Life Is A Highway
by Mispent Youth
Summary: A SPN/NCIS crossover. When 6 year-old Tony's parents are killed, he is saved and adopted by the Winchesters. This story follows Tony becoming a Winchester and joining the family business. In chronological order until Tony goes to college. Now complete.
1. Chapter 1 Side of the Road

Hello, so this is my return to Fanfiction with a Supernatural/NCIS crossover, when first started watching Supernatural I couldn't help but wonder if Dean and Tony would be friends since they are quite similar in personality, and then I began thinking of stories where they would be brothers. When I looked for other crossover stories of the same story, I found someone had beaten me to it! But I carried on anyway, and this is my version, the other one is Illucia's brilliant 'Three Brothers' which I highly recommend.

Anyway here is my story, I have most of the chapters outlined (as I always do when I write fanfiction- I must have a plan) so I should be able to update quite quickly. Being British, other readers may notice a few different words or spellings crop up. I try to use American-English in respect of the show, but I might get carried away and leave British words in. So if you have any trouble with translation, just ask and I'll do my best to explain. Also I had to change Tony's age, and I know I'm probably taking a few liberties with how they kids are talking and acting at a young age, but this is Fanfiction. Hope you like it.

Finally in case I forget on future chapters (as I usually do) Disclaimer- I do NOT own Supernatural or NCIS, I'm just borrowing them for my own imagination and plotlines

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Life Is A Highway

Chapter 1- Side of the Road

25th April 1985- Long Island, New York, USA

Anthony 'Tony' DiNozzo was bored. Very bored.

His parents had gone to a big fundraiser in the city, New York City that is, like they did all the time. Tony's parents were always going to another fundraiser or charity dinner or society lunch, thankfully they only dragged Tony to these half the time. And he usually ended up playing with the other kids who were dragged there by their parents.

This one though had been exceptionally boring, there was a bug going round Tony's private school so for this particular dinner Tony was the only child there, having escaped illness. But he would have actually preferred throwing up in his bed with his nanny by his side to the night he'd had.

His mother had also gotten bored at this dinner after half an hour and while his father was busy talking business with the other men there, his mother had made her way to the bar- her favourite place. And proceeded in her valid attempts to drink it dry.

Tony hid in the corner, just trying to keep out of the way, fidgeting in his suit and staring at the clock. But his attention was soon taken to his mother, who drunkenly walked through the room and planted a long and passionate kiss on her husband's number one business rival. All hell broke loose then with the gossip already starting, Senior DiNozzo 'helped' his wife out the room, while trying to reassure everyone that everything was OK, just a drunken mishap. Then as he let the valet put his wife in the car, he remembered his son and dragged Tony out by his collar.

Once in the car, Tony's mother decided singing at the top of her lungs would be the best way to apologize while Tony's father yelled at him, asking why he didn't look after his mother and how she had made a fool of their family now.

As they drove through the city, Tony tried to melt into the seat, not answering his father and doing his best to ignore the insults he was throwing at the boy. As they got out onto the island, the houses became further apart from each other, with each house accompanied by hundreds of acres of land.

As Tony's father turned to angrily demand an explanation for Tony's behavior tonight, Tony looked out the window and noticed something in the road.

"DAD!" He shouted pointing forward. His father slammed on the brakes but it was too late and the car hit the object in the road. And that was when all hell broke loose for the second time that night.

SNSNSNSNSN

Sam Winchester sat in his car seat, happily watching the night sky passing by his window. He turned his head to see his brother sleeping next to him, he couldn't resist tugging on his brother's hair. Nearly 2 years-old, it was still Sam's favourite thing to do.

And that was how 6 year-old Dean Winchester was woken up that night. "Oww!" He grumbled as he tried to pull away from his brother. "Sammy, let go!"

"What's wrong?" Their father John asked them wearily, all he wanted to get to a motel and sleep, not become a referee for his boys.

"Sam's got my hair again," Dean moaned just as Sammy let go with a giggle.

"De-De. P-aytime!" Sammy cried, citing his reason for waking Dean up.

"No, Sammy. It's dark out, time to sleep." John said from the front seat. He'd just finished a job, a simple Poltergeist job in New York City, however there were a few problems so to avoid the police the family had to make a midnight flight. Dean had no problem sleeping in the car, but Sam still preferred a bed.

As Dean tried to settle Sam, John had to smile at the sight of both his boys, looking at them through the rearview mirror. As he turned his eyes back to the road, he had to brake suddenly when he caught sight of what lay at the side of the road.

Right in front of them was a car on it's roof and it looked like one side of the car had been ripped right off, and in the headlights John could see a large amount of blood smeared across the car. John drove ahead slowly, just a little and stopped the car. He turned round to the backseat, where Dean was looking confused. "I just need to step out of the car, I'm going to lock you in. Whatever you hear, do not turn round. Just sit in your seat and look ahead, do you understand me Dean?" John spoke, very sternly.

"Yes sir," Dean replied. His face already looking forward and determined.

John nodded and stepped out of the car carefully. He went to the trunk of the car and got out a shotgun, just in case. He walked back towards the scene of the accident slowly, listening for any signs of danger. Getting closer, he noticed the front seat held what looked liked numerous body parts and he suspected that was someone's leg lying in the middle of the road. As he looked round the car, he thought he noticed a movement in it. Tucked right up in the backseat. He held up the gun, and spoke loudly.

"Come out of the car, hands up now!"

After a few moments, someone did indeed crawl out but not who John was expecting. Standing before him, shaking from the cold night and from pure terror was a young boy, about Dean's age. Brown hair and green eyes, holding his hands up.

"What the-" John started. Realising he was still holding the kid at gunpoint, he lowered the shotgun and spoke softly this time. "What's your name, son?"

The boy opened his mouth but no words came out. He just stood simply terrified. John knelt down before him. "It's OK, I'm here to help. Just tell me your name."

He also noticed the boy's wrist was looking purple and bruised, probably broken and there was a cut on his forehead, probably in need of stitches but not life-threatening. The rest of him was also gonna be bruised, thrown about the car.

After a few more minutes of asking the kid some questions, it was clear he wasn't going to speak to John. Suddenly he had an idea. "I've got my sons in my car just ahead, would you like to meet them?"

The boy's eyes looked up to him, and John could see he had his attention. John began walking to his own car and noticed in the corner of his eye, the kid was following him. When he got back to the car, John opened the backdoor and was pleased to see Dean was still sitting forward. In the time he had gone and with the car now stationary, Sam had managed to fall asleep.

John unbuckled Dean and helped him out the car. "Dean another car had an accident just behind us on the road. There was a boy there but he's a bit scared to talk to me, could you talk to him?"

Dean looked at his father, and saw the look in his eyes that said he was not messing about here. Dean nodded, "Yes Daddy."

John motioned for the other to come over and he did slowly, soon standing before Dean. Standing together, John couldn't help noticed how much they actually did look alike.

"Are you hurt?" Dean asked first, noticing the boy had some blood on him.

The boy nodded and opened his mouth. "My head and hand hurts," he held up his broken wrist to indicate what he meant. John lowered his head and smiled, thankful his plan had worked.

"My Dad can fix you up, he's real good at that. How did you get hurt?" Dean asked.

"Our car crashed. I heard a horrible sound and closed my eyes. When I opened them, there was something there, it hurt my Mommy. She was screaming so much and I closed my eyes again but she was screaming. I opened my eyes and Daddy was gone. Mommy was..."

John guessed the body and the blood around the car was the child's mother.

"Why did you crash?"

The kid averted his eyes, and John knew something was up. Damn, he was hoping this wasn't something supernatural, that he could just get the kid to safety.

"What's wrong?"

"It was...a monster."

Dean looked at his father and leaned closer, whispering to the boy, even though John could still hear him. "A monster, what do you mean?"

"It was like a giant dog, but really big and really, really scary. It's teeth were huge. It had to be a monster."

John sighed heavily. A giant dog, obviously a werewolf. In his quest for the demon that had killed his wife, he had learned that a werewolf was one of the harder creatures to kill, especially if he was on his own.

"Where is it?" Dean asked, looking round.

"After it hurt my Mommy. It ran off...with my Dad. He was screaming. Where is he? I want my Mommy and Daddy." The kid said, starting to cry.

"Hey, it's OK. Here's what's gonna happen." John said, finally speaking to the boy again. "You and Dean are gonna get back in the car, and sit tight. I'm gonna see if I can find your Daddy."

"What? No! You could get hurt." The kid cried, for the first time he was speaking directly to John.

"Don't worry, my Daddy fights scary things all the time. He always comes back." Dean assured him.

"You believe me?" The kid asked John curiously, he never would have thought a grown up would believe him about a monster.

John nodded slowly, "Like Dean said, I've seen a lot of scary things."

The kid nodded, assured he was safe now with these people and climbed into the car after Dean. John locked them in after grabbing a couple more weapons and quickly went into the woods, next to the road. After waiting for a long time, eventually all three boys were asleep in the backseat of the car. And when John returned much later, a little bit bloodied and bruised himself, he smiled sadly at the three of them.

He started the car up and drove forty miles to the nearest motel room. After getting a room, the sun was just coming up but that didn't deter John. He carefully went between the car and the motel room three times, each time carrying a kid into the room.

After cleaning himself up in the minuscule bathroom, John checked on Sam in the crib who was still sleeping soundly. The other two were on one of the Queen beds, under the covers. As he was getting into his own bed, John noticed a pair of young eyes watching him. The boy was awake. He motioned for the boy to follow him into the bathroom, and began cleaning up his forehead.

"Where are we?" He asked, at least he was speaking to John without Dean now.

"In a motel."

"Where's my Daddy?" He winced as John applied some antiseptic to the wound.

"I'm sorry but when I found the...monster, your Daddy was..." John didn't know exactly how to say it to a kid this young.

"He's dead, isn't he?" The boy asked, tears slowly running down his face.

"I am so sorry." John said sincerely. "Do you have any family? Any Aunts, Uncles or Cousins?"

The boy shook his head. "No, it's just me, Mommy and Daddy."

"Grandparents?"

"They're dead. And now Mommy and Daddy are." The boy said quietly, looking away as John attached a band-aid to his forehead.

"I'm sorry." John said again. No kid should have to go through what he had, watching your parents get killed by werewolves, no doubt this would scar him for life.

John set about getting a cardboard box he had found in the motel reception and made a temporary splint for the boy's wrist, and led him back to bed. Setting him carefully on the mattress. "Don't move your arm, after we all get some sleep, I'll take you to hospital and we can get your wrist properly fixed, OK?" The boy nodded.

"Then what? Where do I go?" He asked quietly.

John took a deep breath, and knew what he was about to say could change his life forever, but strangely enough he was OK with that. "Well since you have no family I could take you to Social Services and they would take you to a nice family in the city that would look after you or a home with lots of kids. Or if you want, you can stay with us."

The boy looked over at Sam, Dean and then back to John. "I want to stay."

"Are you sure? We're not a typical family, you might be happier with someone else."

The kid shook his head. "You believed me about the scary monster and you helped me. I want to stay."

"OK then." John smiled and for the first time since they had met, the kid smiled back at him. It was small and barely there but it was a start.

John climbed into bed and tried to finally get some sleep. As he was drifting off he could hear a couple of small voices, apparently Dean had woken up.

"What's your name?" The kid had asked, suddenly realising he didn't know his savior's names.

"Dean Winchester, that's my little brother Sammy and our Daddy, John. What's yours?"

"Anthony Michael DiNozzo. Everyone calls me Tony."

And that was the thing John heard before sleep claimed him. And his last though, 'Welcome to the family, Tony.'


	2. Chapter 2 Family Business

Thank you very much for your kind reviews, glad to see I've got some followers on this story, just hope I can keep you with the story. So here is the next chapter for you, enjoy! (I've edited the mistakes in this chapter- thank you Illucida)

Disclaimer- I still don't own Supernatural or NCIS

Chapter 2- Family Business

Jemison, Alabama, USA- 3rd September 1986

A year later and things were definitely different for the Winchester family and yet it was still quite similar. John now had three loving sons, who he cared for and protected. Tony had fit right in with the family. It took a while before he could fully trust them, and he sure wasn't used to how they lived. After talking with him, he learned the kid had come from money, his father apparently being a big business magnet. The kid had lived a privileged life of Summer camps, a personal maid and cook and chauffeur, a sought after Long Island address, private school and now he was living on the lam with an ex-marine hell bent on revenge for his wife and two kids, going from one school to another, state to state, living in motels and the Impala. Yet Tony seemed to love it.

From what he had learned through Dean, Tony didn't have many friends where he had lived before mostly because his home was quite far away from any of his schoolmates, and he wasn't that close to his family. His mother apparently liked her alcohol and his father loved his business. Tony had once told him the person he hated leaving behind the most had been the Cook of the household who had been his favourite person to talk to, given that the woman had been Latina, it hadn't taken Tony long to pick up Spanish from her, leaving him fluent in the language. However due to the nature of the supernatural, John was slowing teaching the boys Latin while learning himself and Tony was picking it up faster than any of them.

After the werewolf attack and John taking Tony in, he had wondered how it was going to work and if anyone would be looking for him. But he kept an eye on the papers and about a week after the attack he read an article stating that the whole DiNozzo family had been killed in a savage animal attack. The Police were basing their theories on numerous facts they had gathered. Witnesses at the party said all three of them had left, the huge amounts of blood at the scene (more than from one person) and hardly any bodies and no trace of any of them were alive since the attack so they just assumed all three family members had been killed and the case was put to rest quite quickly. John was very grateful but after reading the paper, he was alarmed to see they had published a picture of the family from one of DiNozzo Senior's business dinners, John had quickly taken the boys that night and driven clear across the country to California and stayed on the west side of America for about six months until the news had died down at least.

So for all intent purposes the kid was now Anthony Michael Winchester. The family had gone all out for the celebration, they went out for a fancy dinner, stayed in a three-star hotel, Dean had even made a certificate with a drawing of the four Winchester boys and Tony's new name printed across the top. Tony had been very happy with it and it was now safely folded up in his backpack that he took with him everywhere.

John had been worried about the boys, Sam was still a little young and had no problem adjusting to another brother, to little Sammy he was simply another body to play with. Tony also had a slight obsession with movies so now he was the person Sam went to when he wanted a story since Tony knew hundreds it seemed. They would sit on a motel bed together with Tony regaling the tales of James Bond or another movie he had seen, often adding his own twists. Sam would be enthralled until he fell asleep, and usually Dean would be nearby listening as well.

Dean was the one John had been nervous about, even though he had been the one to get Tony to talk, it was still vastly different to have the kid suddenly living with you. Especially with Dean being born in January 1979 and Tony born in July 1978, Dean was now the middle brother. But as it turned out John had nothing to worry about, being so close in age meant the boys were instant best friends. They still had fights and arguments, like all friends and brothers but they quickly made up and stuck together. They would both take care of Sam and much as he hated to say it, John knew they looked out for him too. However if John suddenly found them whispering together, it gave him a reason to be nervous as it usually meant they were plotting a prank to play or something similar. But he was glad they had each other as he was certain they shared a lot of secrets together. With them always moving around a lot, Dean didn't have any friends so John was happy he had someone to talk to now.

After a few weeks of recovery and nightmares, John had finally told Tony all about the Winchester family business. Dean had known for a few months now what his father did on his business trips and now Tony knew too. They had sat him down one night when Sam was asleep and John had explained all about the supernatural and why he was on his mission, all about how Mary had died. Tony had listened patiently and taken it all in surprisingly well, John had a feeling it was do with all the horror movies the kid had seen, so while he was a little freaked it, he was fine after a couple of days and was soon eager to help, like Dean.

But John was still adamant that the boys not become hunters, after all this was his fight and they were just kids. For now he just wanted them to try to lead normal lives, such as going to school and playing games.

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Sam waved sadly to his brothers from the back of the Impala, wishing he could join them. He wasn't often away from them, but he had gotten used to them being gone during the day, he still didn't like it though. His father usually slept so he would play quietly in the corner or colour his pictures or look at his picture books. Then his father would wake up and they would have lunch, then sometimes John would play a game with him, and teach him magic tricks and sometimes they would watch cartoons together.

All this happened, while Tony and Dean were at a fun place called school, namely Jemison Elementary School.

Being only 3 years-old Sam was still too young to go, but his father said in a couple of years he could start going in the mornings, then a while after that he could attend full time like his brothers. Sam was very excited about that, he desperately wanted to be like his brothers, they were his heroes after all.

Meanwhile at their new school, Tony and Dean weren't having such a magical time. Thankfully they had started this new school at the beginning of the new year so there were quite a few people wandering about, looking a little lost. John had gone with them to meet the Principle and done all the necessary talking, then they were led to their different homerooms.

Tony was born in July 1978 so he was currently starting the 3rd grade, but with Dean's birthday in January 1979, he was in the grade below. Both boys had learnt early on that they should keep a low profile in school, they kept moderate grades, didn't join any teams or take part in any school competitions and spent little time with other kids, that way when they left a few weeks later, people would barely remember them. That didn't bother either of them though, they had each other for friends and they had smarts in other areas such as supernatural myths.

Though he knew his father didn't want him to, Dean couldn't wait to leave school and hunt full time like his Dad, he'd decided early on that's what he wanted to do, after he had accidentally witnessed John smoking a ghost one night. Tony however liked school, he usually got B's, but he could have been an A-Grade student if they stayed in one place, but he knew he had to keep his intelligence a secret from others.

However this would be a school where the Winchesters would become very well-known.

"Good morning Class," Miss Jones said to her 3rd Grade classroom, smiling at their faces, however only half of them returned the smile. "I hope you all had a good summer and are ready to get to work," she asked.

"Yes Miss Jones," the class chorused.

"Now before we start, I know you are all back from the Summer and are new to the year but we have a brand new student to the school in our class. Can you all say hello to Tony?" She asked, motioning for Tony to stand up. He did so, slowly and looked around the class nervously. Every kid was staring at him, scrutinizing him. He noticed one boy looked at him, made a face then turned away. 'What the hell?' Tony wondered. Thankfully Miss Jones let him sit down and the class began. They started out with the easy stuff, looking at the books they would be needing for the year or in Tony's case a month or so.

He didn't know how long he would be at this school, but it was usually about a month or two at each one. And each school did study pretty much the same stuff, and Tony picked up his new lessons pretty quickly.

By lunchtime, Tony was breezing through his work and had worked up quite the appetite. After he entered the lunch hall, he made a beeline for Dean who had nabbed the table at the back of the room. As John had taught them, keep their back to the wall and overlook everything. Tony and Dean always ate lunch together at every school, they liked to keep in touch during the school day since they were never in the same class.

"Hey Dude, how's your class?" Tony asked, as he opened his lunch bag, and started in on his sandwich.

"Fine, same old stuff. Kids messing about, teacher's trying to teach." Dean said, having scarfed half his own lunch.

"Same as mine." Tony said, "you have any trouble with any kids?"

"Nah, they wouldn't dare." Dean said with a grin to his brother. "You?"

"There was a kid, didn't get a good vibe of him."

"Super vibe or just idiot vibe?" Dean asked, wondering if they would need to call their Dad in, since he had found out about the supernatural he seemed to see it in everything, Most of the time it wasn't actually there.

"Calm down, MacGyver." Tony mumbled. "Nothing horror worthy here. Just a bully probably, don't worry I can handle him."

Dean nodded, reassured by his big brother.

SNSNSNSNSN

A couple of weeks later and Dean was sitting in the Principal's Office with an icepack to his cheek and his father by his side. On the other side of John was a very angry mother with her son.

Joey Barrett was in Tony's class, and he hadn't been that friendly to him, up till now Tony had let it go, didn't bother with the kid, knowing his family would be moving on soon, but Dean hadn't been able to hold back.

Now Joey was sporting a bloody nose and a sore stomach, from where Dean had hit him good.

"I do not tolerate fighting in my school Mr Winchester," the Principal said to John, who was seething inside.

"So bullying's fine if there are no fists flying?" He asked, looking pointedly at Joey.

"Excuse me?" The boy's mother asked. "My son has done nothing. Your boy just came over and started beating him up. My angel should be in hospital."

"Really?" John asked, glaring daggers at the woman. "Since my sons started at this school, your 'angel' has been picking on my eldest son Tony, who is in his class. Tony has been helpful and friendly to him, but all your kid has done is spread rumors and stolen from him, I also know he's given Tony a few bruises of his own."

Joey's mother was appalled at this dirty, scruffy man accusing her son of such things. "That is not true. My son-"

"Oh don't bother, my family is leaving. I don't want my sons being taught in a school where teachers don't help them." John said, standing up.

"Mr Winchester, that's not necessary-" The Principal started, standing up as well.

"Please, what have you done. Tony has spoken to other kids, Joseph Barrett is always picking on someone, yet you just stand by and let it happen." John made for the door, as Dean threw the icepack on the Principal's desk. "Come on Dean, let's get out of this place."

And they did just that. John had finished his business in town anyway and was going to let the kids stay in school for another week, so he wouldn't draw any suspicions of leaving too soon, but then this happened. Tony and Sam were waiting in the car out front, as soon as John and Dean joined them, they were leaving town. John had picked up a lead for the Yellow Eyed Demon who he heard was currently in Montana.

Just before they got to their trusty Impala though, John stopped Dean and knelt down to him. "Dean what you did was dangerous. It could have been bigger than this, that mother could have taken her son to the hospital and it might have been a lot worse than this. You know we have to lay low when were in town and you're in school."

"I know, I'm sorry Dad, it's just...Tony wasn't doing anything. And that kid was being so horrible, he kept saying things about Tony behind his back and doing stuff to him. I just- I didn't want him...I couldn't let him get away with it anymore." Dean sighed heavily, upset he had disappointed his father. "T is just too nice to do anything."

"I am proud of you son for standing up for your brother, but don't underestimate Tony, if that kid had been picking on you, Tony would definitely have stood up for you." John said, looking over to the car where Tony was playing with Sam. "He's part of the family now."

John saw Dean avert his eyes and look down sadly. "What's wrong Dean?"

"That kid, Joey. He found out T isn't...ours exactly."

John nodded, understanding now. "That's what got you so angry."

"Yeah, because it isn't true. Tony is my brother and so I had to look out for him. That's what family does. Right?"

"Right, son." John said with a smile, standing up. "Let's go, Dean. We've got a long drive ahead of us. And it looks like your big brother is letting you sit up front." Dean smiled and raced to the Impala, where Tony and Sam greeted him warmly. John smiled as well, before joining his family.


	3. Chapter 3 Thriller

Thanks again, for the terrific reviews, I'm so glad that this story has some readers. Also a big thank you to Illucida for alerting me to my grammatical/spelling mistakes in the last chapter, I've edited those now. And now for the next chapter, enjoy.

Chapter 3- Thriller

Rockport, Maine, USA- 31st October 1987

Halloween.

A favourite holiday for many children, but for two young boys in a motel in Rockport, Maine it was nothing. After all their father fought real monsters all the time, so to see people dressed up as Witches and Mummies and Vampires and Monsters didn't faze them. Usually in the weeks leading up to Halloween Tony and Dean would see the various costumes on offer in stores all over America and joke about the inaccuracies of them.

However Tony was a bit more excited this year, since they were in Maine which was as he put it was 'Stephen King State,' and he was convinced something supernatural would happen, thanks to the King of Horror.

He had spent the past few nights telling Sam, more tame versions of Stephen King's stories. Sam hadn't appreciated the tale of 'It' though, John hadn't been too happy either to wake up with his youngest son screaming in his face about Killer Clowns.

For the past couple of years, Tony and Dean usually donned a couple of no-nonsense costumes and claimed to be characters from movies then they would go calling to houses in safe neighborhoods while John waited in the car at the end of the block with Sam asleep in the back. This year however Sam was 4 years-old (or 4 and a half as he put it) and since he was going to be at school soon, he was determined not to miss out on the fun, demanding to tag along with his older brothers.

After days of begging Tony and Dean relented and told Sam he could, but only if he could sort out his own costume. After that Sam had bounced off the walls with excitement and elicited the help of his father to get an awesome costume together.

So while John took Sam to Wal-Mart to get a few things for the big night, Tony and Dean got their own outfits together. They were all determined to keep the costumes a secret until they were ready to go and so dinner was a trying time for John.

"So what did you get Sammy?" Tony asked, helping himself to his third slice of Pizza. Since they would all be eating candy and chocolate at the end of the night anyway, John declared Halloween as Pig Out night, letting them have a junk food dinner as well, with Pizza and a couple of huge bag of Fries to share.

Sam excitedly opened his mouth to speak before stopping and looking at his eldest brother, "No way T, wait till we go."

"But I'm sure I saw something green in the bag, you're not going as The Slime Monster are you?" Tony asked grinning.

"Ewww!" Sam squealed. "That's gross Tony."

"How about a big bowl of Jello then, that's green." Dean put in, grabbing a handful of fries.

"Or maybe a giant blade of grass." Tony supplied.

"Or maybe you should both just wait and see, like Sam says." John said with a smile of his own.

"Fine, bet it's not as cool as my costume though," Dean said.

"Please, yours is gonna be totally lame, bet you'll just be in black pants and a white t-shirt, say you're John McClane. Again." Tony shot back.

"And what about you Mr Magnum, was that a Hawaiian Shirt I saw you eyeing in the store?" Dean asked.

Sam looked between his brothers smiling, he loved it when they argued like this because it wasn't horrible and they never said anything mean, it just always made him laugh.

"Well hello- that would be because...Magnum PI is awesome." Tony said, shouting the last part.

"As cool as Bruce Willis?" Dean argued.

John kept his head down but Sam could see him smiling from across the table. This was something that John loved as well, when the boys got like this, it made them seem like a normal family, with siblings arguing and familiar banter. It made him forget he was a single father living motel to motel out for revenge and dragging his kids along for the ride.

However before anyone got too highly strung, John called out peace. "OK, while I eat the last slice you three get changed. Sammy you stay here in the Kitchen, Tony go to the beds, Dean into the bathroom. Go, now!" John said as he began cleaning up the table. The boys went to their assigned areas, while the living area was small, there was a short partition that divided the Kitchen and Bedroom area, and Tony and Sam kept their backs to each other.

After a few minutes with John's help, the boys were ready. Meeting in the Kitchen again, they finally got a look at each others costumes.

Sam was jumping up and down in his so he just looked like a blur of green. John gently put his hands on Sam's shoulders to calm him. "What do you think? You didn't guess this?" Sam said.

And his brothers hadn't. Sam was wearing khaki pants, a white t-shirt with a camouflage patterned jacket, and black boots, you could easily tell what he was trying to be. "I'm Daddy as a Marine," Sam cried happily.

"Nice work Sammy," Tony said high-fiving his brother.

"Yeah, you look just like Dad." Dean said as Sam began jumping again.

Meanwhile, Tony had gone for the classic Police look, black pants, a light blue shirt and he had bought a kid's police badge, hat and plastic handcuffs from the local Supermarket.

"A policeman?" Dean asked, he wondered why his brother had chosen that as his outfit since they both knew their father had gotten in trouble with the police over a few hunts and now hated them.

"Because they fight evil," Tony said grinning cheekily at John. Since it was Halloween though, their Dad just smiled and shook his head. "Good choice Dean," Tony said sincerely looking at his younger brother.

Dean had gone for beige pants and shirt and a store bought hat and some rope, altogether it made him a miniature Indiana Jones. "Thanks, wanna go get that treasure now?"

"Yeah, chocolate!" Sam screamed, running to the door. John went after him and managed to strap him into the Impala, Tony grabbed the candy bags while Dean made sure the motel door was locked behind them. Eventually all three of them were buckled up and driving to the other side of the small town, Tony and Dean had found out from their new school friends that was where the safest place to beg for treats was.

SNSNSNSNSN

"Trick-or-treat!" The boys cried out, at the next house. This was one of the kinder houses on their route, as they handed out Snicker bars, which were actually Tony's favourite.

"Thank you," they chorused as the elderly couple waved them goodbye.

"Can you believe how much we got here?" Dean asked with a grin.

"I know, my bag's really, really heavy." Sammy said, as he tried to hang the hefty load over his shoulder.

"I think this is the best we've ever got." Tony said, as they trekked to the next house. When he was younger and still living on Long Island, he would get really expensive chocolates and snacks from his rich neighbors. But as he was the only kid in the area, he was usually taken around by his Nanny, and then she would only let him eat a few things, saying too much candy was no good.

This was definitely a better way to celebrate Halloween. With his brothers, and other kids from the neighborhood. Most of the houses were decorated for the holiday and more importantly he felt safe. After they visited another couple of houses, Tony and Dean saw a couple of kids from school.

"Hey Tony," Joshua, dressed as Dracula, said as he came over to them. "You been to number 24?"

"No, why they got something good?" Tony asked.

"Worse, they're giving out apples."

"There's always one." Dean grumbled, making a note to avoid that house.

"Thanks for the heads up." Tony said. "Nice costume."

"Thanks, Dracula was the King of the Vampires you know." Joshua said proudly, his face looking strange as it was painted a shocking white.

"I don't like vampires." Sam said joining the conversation.

"Why not? They're awesome. They only come out at night, sleep in coffins and turn into bats." Joshua said. "And people have to give me candy or I'll suck their blood."

Tony and Dean both looked at each other, the poor kid has just repeated nearly every myth about vampires. They knew the true stories and how they behaved, hell John had made them research vampires early on as they were one of the core monsters that everyone knew about. Only they knew what vampires were really like.

They bid Joshua a goodbye as they carried on with their sweet trek. They continued for another half hour, seeing a few more friends on the way, each giving advice to the best houses. As their bags became too heavy to carry they realised they were near the meeting point, and saw John waiting at the end of the street for them. He had only agreed to let them go alone as long as they stayed in the two block area and met him before it got dark and most importantly, stayed together.

"Wow, boys. Looks like you've got enough to last you till Christmas." John said, smiling as they all climbed in. Their sacks were all straining from the weight of their candy, John was surprised the bags hadn't broken.

"Yeah, we got loads Daddy," Sam cried as he looked through his candy, trying to decide what to eat first.

"We found out the best places to go, no apples for us Dad, sorry." Dean said, completely unapologetic.

John just smiled as he drove back to the motel, the boys telling him about all the costumes they saw.

When they arrived at their temporary home, the boys began sorting out their candy, all dutifully giving a candy bar to their father.

"I'm putting mine in my bag, don't steal it." Sam warned as he zipped up as backpack. Dean and Tony just rolled their eyes, as if they would take Sammy's when they had their own.

"Sure Sammy, no problem." Tony said, as he put his own candy away in his duffle bag. That was another thing he loved about Halloween with the Winchesters, John let him keep all the candy, but only if he promised to eat a little each day. He wasn't joking earlier, the previous year Tony had still been eating his Halloween chocolate at Christmas.

"Daddy..." Sam said, dragging the title out. John instantly knew that he would be explaining something to his youngest child.

"Yes, Sam?"

"Do vampires really sleep in coffins?" Sam asked.

John frowned, as Tony and Dean both stopped eating. "Why do you ask Sammy?"

"Tony's friend was Dracula, he said Vampires sleep in coffins. I don't think I would like that." Sam said, completely oblivious to the stares his father and brothers were giving each other.

"Sam, you know Halloween...all these monsters and costumes people have, they're not real."

"What about mine?" Sam asked confused.

"Well I mean yes, your costume is real, but the vampires and witches and ghosts, they're not real." John said, even though he was doing this to protect Sam, he still felt terrible lying to him.

"Oh OK, so there are no vampires."

"No," Tony agreed. "But they make for good stories, want me to tell you one?"

"As long as there are no clowns," John mumbled to Tony as he went to the Kitchen area. Tony grinned as Sam climbed into bed, eager to hear his bedtime story.

While Tony weaved a tale, Dean spoke quietly with his father.

"Why didn't you tell him the truth Dad, I know he's still young but-"

"Not just that, he's the youngest. We have to look after him, the three of us. He doesn't need to know about the supernatural beings out there, we can keep it from him and still protect him. Understand me, Dean? Just let him be a kid."

"Yes, Sir," Dean nodded, feeling a little jealous. Dean was 6 when his father had admitted the truth to him, and John had slowly started training both Dean and Tony to be hunters, teaching them basic combat moves, Latin and how to kill demons and ghosts. While Dean loved it, he sometimes wished he didn't know what was out there. It made for some uncomfortable nights when he heard something in the middle of the night.

That was when he realised what his Dad was doing, trying to keep Sam's innocence and childhood alive as long as he could. Then and there Dean made himself a promise that he would do that as well, after all it was just another way to look after Sam, which was his main job.

By reassuring Sam that Halloween was just a holiday, he smiled as he sat on the bed next to Sam, who was listening intently to Tony's story.


	4. Chapter 4 Team Winchester

I cannot thank you enough for all your great reviews and keeping up with the story :) Also I've noticed that I haven't out a disclaimer up in a while, and I'm sure you've probably guessed this already- but I do NOT own Supernatural or NCIS.

Chapter 4- Team Winchester

18th June 1988- Salvation, Iowa, USA

It was time. The boys had gone through shotgun training and running drills, plus how to do efficient research, and could recite the required Latin chant for a successful demon exorcism and now knew all about numerous supernatural beings, but they were under strict instructions not to tell Sam until he was much older. Now that he was 5 years old, Sam often saw Tony and Dean talking quietly amongst themselves and hated being left out. So he would run over to them and force himself between them until they paid attention to him and played a game.

For Tony, Dean and Sam the evenings were a lot alike, usually they were in some random motel room, cooking dinner in the small kitchenette, waiting for John to get back from a hunt. Since Tony had spent a lot of time with his cook in his old life (as he thought of it), he was very good at cooking dinner for the three of them even with the limited kitchen he usually had. Often he and Dean would take turns cooking, Dean would make microwave dinners and Tony would cook a lavish meal. It was clear who the family's favourite cook was, but Tony always said it was nice to have variety whenever Dean made Spaghetti-O's again.

This evening was going to be very different though. They were in Iowa this time, John had gotten word of a ghost causing a lot of mayhem for a family. They were lovely, churchgoing people and after some urging from their pastor had explained their situation to John who quickly said he could help.

After some thought and a lot of talking with the boys he decided it was time he brought Tony and Dean on the hunt with him. Starting with a ghost would be easy for them, a simple salt and burn. So to start them off, he took them to the Library, where Sam perused the Children's Section with John, while Tony and Dean set out to find their ghost.

"So what did you find out boys?" John asked, wanting to see if they could do this on their own.

"Well, the house became famous in 1888, when the man who lived there was accused of killing his wife. But he said she had disappeared, her body wasn't found. So they couldn't prove he killed her," Tony began, looking over the notes he had scribbled down.

"But then he died three years later, people said he was going crazy. Always talking about his wife, and rambling about wild theories of what happened to her. So eventually he jumped out of the attic window." Dean added.

"OK, that's good. So the ghost is still on the property. Did you find out where the wife was buried?"

"Well since no one knows for sure she actually died there, no one knows." Tony said.

"However I found out that the husband won a few prizes in the town for his gardening, was well known for it." Dean continued.

"So you think maybe..." John started but was interrupted by an excited Dean.

"She's in the garden." Dean cried out, which caused the Librarian to look over sharply.

"Settle down Dean." John admonished. "But no one thought to check there, if he was so famous for it?"

"Nope. Doesn't say why, but no." Dean frowned, checking over his notes.

"Well he was quite rich, probably paid off the police. Money can buy a lot, if you have enough," Tony said, knowingly, looking away. John frowned and realised Tony was thinking about his first family. "Anyway, since then people have said the house is haunted."

"And how do you know it isn't the husband?"

"He left money for himself to be cremated," Tony explained.

"OK, that's good work boys. Now we'll go back to the motel and rest for a bit. We've got a long night ahead of us."

"What about Sammy?"

"I'll take care of him." John reassured, going off to find his youngest boy.

Tony and Dean took a chance and high-fived each other, but it was their joyous laughs that brought them to the attention of the Librarian again. "Ssssh. Quiet!"

SNSNSNSNSN

While John read with Sam and then took him to a local park, Tony and Dean got a little sleep, and then the four of them had a quick dinner.

Pretty soon they were driving to the town's church, Sam was staring out the window at the night sky dropping off, while Tony and Dean were sitting nervously and uncharacteristically quiet in their seats. John smiled as he glanced at them in the rearview mirror. He just knew they were gonna be great tonight.

Pulling up to the church, he cut the engine and looked in the backseat at the boys. "OK, I'm just going to drop off Sammy and then we'll get going. OK?"

"Yes sir," the boys chorused. They sat silently, just watching out the window as John carried a sleepy Sam to a man at the church door, they spoke for a couple of minutes before John returned to the Impala, without his youngest son.

"Ready?"

"Yes sir," the boys replied again.

"OK then," John smiled as he started the car and began driving to the quiet, small town house where this nightmare was occurring. He could tell the boys were nervous, and damn so was he. He had never had partners as young as this, but he trusted the boys after all he had trained them. Something was tugging at his conscious though, wondering if maybe the boys were too young to go through with this.

But he decided this would be a test for them. If they could handle this hunt, then he would take them on others. After all this was for their safety really, they had to know what sort of monsters actually lived in the world, other than the human kind. And they had to know how to defeat them. So maybe it wasn't the traditional way of doing it but he was actually protecting them.

After about five minutes driving, they arrived at their destination and once again John cut the car. The boys were still silent and it was starting to get unnerving for him. After Tony had gotten over his initial shock when he first came to them, the family had quickly discovered he was quite a chatterbox. They were so used to his incessant chatter that it was strange when they weren't hearing his continuous often amusing monologue.

"OK boys, we're here." He turned to the backseat, deciding it was best to remain objective and direct about what they were doing. "Now we've got the story and after speaking to the owners I know where the body was buried in the back garden, so we are going to go straight there. When we get there I am going to have to dig up the body, the ghost may appear and that is where you two come in. If you see the ghost you will shoot her with rock salt. Why rock salt?"

"Because salt is thought to be pure and it scares ghosts away," Tony replied in a small voice.

"Very good. Then afterwards, when I have dug up the body what am I going to do to it Dean?"

"Salt and burn it. Throw salt over it, then gasoline then light it on fire." Dean answered. John smiled at the pair and nodded. "Let's go then."

The three of them had gone over the plan many times before but he wanted to do a quick recap just in case.

They climbed out the car and began walking up the path to the back garden, John leading the way with Tony and Dean following closely. Both boys held a shotgun that John had spent a lot of time sawing off for them, both loaded with rock salt bullets. Dean could clearly remember the proud look on his father's face when he first saw the boys with their own guns, ready to assist him.

But now in the chill of the night, Dean shivered as he realised what he was about to was very dangerous and for the first time in his life he wondered if his Dad could actually protect them. But he didn't dare ask.

John immediately went to the woman's unmarked gravesite and ordered Tony and Dean to stand watch either side of him, then began digging, not wanting to waste anytime. From the previous jobs he had done though, he knew digging a grave was not quick business.

SSSSSSSSSS

Tony was beginning to get bored, he knew this was a dangerous task but he was a little disappointed when he saw John had dug quite a big hole and they still hadn't seen anything in the dark of the night. He and Dean had been standing there for over an hour now. But he didn't really have to worry, because just when John finally reached the bones and exposed them to the cold night, the ghost finally appeared, intent on keeping her body protected.

Dean was amazed, one second he was standing guard like had been doing all night then the next, a beautiful, young woman had appeared before him. He gasped, loud enough for John to stop throwing salt over the bones and look up. Dean stood there though, unable to lift his gun, shocked by what he was actually seeing. Luckily for him though his brother got over his shock quicker, aiming the gun as the ghost took another step closer to Dean, then pulled the trigger. A blast of salt shot out right at the ghost, making her dissipate into the air.

"Dean, you OK?" Tony asked. Dean out on his game face and nodded fiercely.

"Don't forget though it only hurts the ghosts, they could come back. So keep your wits about you boys," John called, as he opened up the tank of gasoline he had with him and poured it over the bones. Before he could get his lighter from his pocket though, the ghost was suddenly there in the grave less than two foot away from him.

"Dad!" Tony cried. That was enough to distract the ghost and for John to leap out of the grave. Tony pulled off another shot but missed this time. As the ghost began moving towards him, John did as well yanking the gun from Tony's grasp. As he took aim though, the woman's ghost suddenly burst into flames and screaming before she eventually disappeared into the night. Turning the the gravesite, John could see Dean standing over it, obviously having dropped his own pack of matches into the grave.

John smiled as Tony and Dean each let out a nervous but happy laugh.

SSSSSSSSSS

A couple of hours later the boys were climbing into bed at the church, with Sam there already the man John had spoken to before insisted they stay as well. They had come to learn the man was called James and he worked in the church, but he said they could call him Pastor Jim. He was very friendly and led them to a small bedroom in the back, where Sam was already sleeping on a small bed. Dean and Tony climbed into the double bed there and quickly settled down, though they were still a little too wired to actually sleep.

John came quietly into the room and saw the boys whispering, a welcomed and familiar sight which made him smile. He came over not wanting to disturb Sam and sat on the edge of the bed. "You did good tonight boys, I'm very proud of you. You did as you were told, and you worked together as a team."

"We all did," Tony commented softly.

"That's right. Team Winchester," Dean said, pointing to himself, Tony and then his father. John smiled again and thanked the Heavens, even with the pain of losing his wife at least he still had his boys.

"Goodnight boys, get some sleep," he ordered sternly.

"Yes Dad," they whispered lightly as he left the room. Before they closed their eyes though, Tony and Dean smiled at each other, both very proud of themselves.


	5. Chapter 5 Meeting Bobby

Once again, I am very happy for the lovely reviews I received and very glad I've got loyal followers of this story.

But I must say a very BIG thank you to TitansRule, who helped me out of a very big jam here. I'm not sure if anyone else has any problems uploading on Fanfic but I was and it was driving me crazy but thankfully TitansRule saved me. So many thanks to her.

And I am excited to put up the new chapter now (FINALLY), as this has been my favourite one so write so far, mostly because I am including another long term favourite character of mine- I hope I've done him justice.

Chapter 5- Meeting Bobby

21st May 1989- Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA

"Where are we going?" Sam asked. While most kids were inclined to ask 'are we there yet' the Winchesters boys were used to asking where they were headed since it could be absolutely anywhere in the US.

"South Dakota," both Tony and Dean grumbled from either side of Sam. Usually one of the boys would sit up front with John for more room, but because the front passenger seat was currently being held hostage by a large box filled with books, they were both stuck in the back. John had said something about it being a present for the person they were visiting. Though Tony suspected it was actually a bribe.

"I know that." Sam shot back. "But where in South Dakota?"

"Who cares, South Dakota is just one boring, plain filled state with nothing to do." Tony muttered, though John still heard him.

John had deterred from telling the boys too much information in case he didn't actually get to see the man they were headed for, since he hadn't sounded so friendly on the phone. But still he was meant to be the best researcher in the hunter's world.

If Robert Stephen Singer didn't know about it, then no one would.

But he decided to let the boys in on his plans, if it got him a few minutes peace from their bickering. "We are going to see a man about some information."

"So we're just going being sitting around while you read your books?" Dean asked grumpily. Since they had started travelling before dawn, none of the kids were in a particularly good mood.

"The man runs a auto salvage yard, you'll probably learn a few more things about fixing up the car from him. And Sammy, he has a dog." Sam did indeed perk up at that, he was desperate for a pet but unfortunately because of their lifestyle, they couldn't drag an animal with them everywhere. Dean also sounded interested in the cars, recently he had taken to helping John whenever the Impala broke down or needed a little tinkering.

Tony rolled his eyes but stayed silent, of course there would be nothing for him to do but look after the younger two.

Eventually after a couple more hours they finally reached their destination. John pulled up to Singer's Salvage Yard and parked in front of what looked like the owner's house. It was pretty run down much like the cars in the yard but still that didn't faze the Winchester family, with all the places they had stayed in their time. Plus they knew appearances could always be deceiving.

The boys quickly scrambled out of the car, desperate to run around and stretch their legs and before John could stop them, they did just that.

"Aah, finally!" Tony cried, running around the car a couple of times.

"This is South Dakota?" Sam asked sleepily, jumping up and down to wake himself up.

"Sammy, you loser! You drooled on my shoulder!" Dean cried, he quickly went after his younger brother and began chasing him between the rusty cars, immediately Tony joined them in shouting and laughing with his brothers.

"Hey boys!" John cried. "Quiet down!"

Before the could respond though, the front door of the house slammed open and another voice bellowed out. "Who the hell are you?"

The boys all stopped running and looked over to the new voice. On the front porch stood a bearded man, in jeans, a flannel shirt and a baseball cap on his head. And holding a shotgun straight at John. Usually when their father was threatened, Tony or Dean wold grab a gun and point it right back, but since neither of them were near the Impala's impressive arsenal, they just stood there in front of Sam.

"I said, who the hell are you?" The man asked again. John was standing there, holding up his hands a little stunned. But quickly shook his head.

"I'm John Winchester. I called you about..." he gave a glance to the boys. "About the information I was after."

"You're Winchester?" The man asked lowering his shotgun. "I didn't know you'd be bringing all the neighbourhood kids with you, I thought the circus was in my yard with all the noise they were making."

"No, these are my sons." John stepped closer to the man, now he held his gun at his side. "Sorry for the noise they were making, we've just been travelling a long way and their glad to stretch their legs. You are Robert Singer, aren't you?"

The man nodded. "Call me Bobby." A black labrador suddenly appeared between his legs. "And this here's Max." He said, patting the dog's head. Sam immediately smiled and ran to the porch before anyone could stop him.

"Doggy! Can I play with him please?" He begged the man, already letting Max lick his face and giggling.

"Sam," John warned, getting ready to pull his son back.

"No, no it's fine. Max knows a friend when he sees one. Guess that means you can come in." He turned round and entered the house, with Max and then Sam following him.

As Dean and Tony made their way into the house as well, John went back to the car and got the books. Another hunter who had given Bobby's name to John had also given him the boxful of books to give to Bobby. Every hunter who knew of Bobby, also knew of his vast book collection and was always after certain folklore titles, so whenever someone needed help from him, they usually gifted him with a book first. Leading to Bobby having books stacked up in every space of his house.

Tony and Dean gaped when they first entered the house. They had never seen so many books, even in a library. They were stacked up on the stairs, piled high to the ceiling in the corners of the rooms, every spare bit of surface was covered by a hard backed tome. It seemed the only room devoid of novels was the Kitchen but upon closer inspection Tony noticed a cupboard full of cookery books.

"So you're Sam?" Bobby asked the youngest Winchester who was still sitting on the floor playing with Max, who also seemed to love the attention.

"Yep, I'm 6." He said as if it was the most important thing about him. "Had my birthday...19 days ago." He counted, smiling up at Bobby. He didn't know what it was but Sam had liked him immediately, having Max there didn't hurt. But still he could see something kind in the man's eyes. As Max made a run for the living room, Sam followed him but stopped when Bobby called his name.

"Don't you be messing up my books, I got a system for them and I don't like anyone disturbing it. Understand?"

Sam nodded and carefully began to follow the dog who was sitting on the couch, waiting for him.

"And what about you two?" Bobby asked as Tony and Dean sat at the Kitchen table, appraising their surroundings.

"I'm Dean," Tony replied quickly, throwing a grin towards his brother. Dean caught on and played along. "And I'm Tony." He said, with a grin of his own.

"Boys," John said as he came into the kitchen as well, also in awe of the number of volumes the house held. "This is Tony," he said a hand coming down on Tony's shoulder a little forcefully. "And this here is Dean," he replied nudging Dean.

"Not nice to trick fellow hunters boys." Bobby said, though he was giving them the first smile they had seen from him. "How old you two?"

"They're both 10," John said.

"Twins?" Bobby asked, they weren't identical but he could see a few similarities especially in their colouring.

"Nope, Tony's adopted."

"And older." Tony grinned smugly at Dean, who rolled his eyes in response to his elder brother's remark.

Bobby frowned at that but didn't say anything and John suspected he would be telling the fellow hunter his story later. Then he grinned as he realised the boys were now sizing him up.

Whilst John and Bobby began talking, Dean was looking round the Kitchen and was alarmed to see a number of telephones along the wall, each of them with different labels. He tilted his head and began reading them, noticing they had different law enforcement names written on them. Dean gave a small chuckle which caught the attention of his father and Bobby.

"Mr Bobby, you're awesome." He said gesturing towards the phones. Tony saw them and grinned a the genius idea too.

"That is fantastic." He said approvingly.

"Comes in handy when it has to be." Bobby replied. "And call me Bobby, save the misters for those damn edjits in suits."

Tony and Dean looked at each other then grinned broadly at the older man, they loved him already.

SSSSSSSSSS

A while later, John had found out the information he needed and what exactly it was he was hunting. A Rugaru, which was a new one for him. He thought about taking the boys with him on the hunt but then thought better of it, if this was new to him he didn't want the boys coming and getting into danger. Instead Bobby found a number for another hunter, Travis who hunted many creatures but his main interest was Rugaru's, who said he could be there later that night, and would be glad to have John come with him.

"OK, so Travis wants me to meet him in town then we can get this thing from there? Shouldn't be more than a few hours, and I'll be gone early tomorrow morning." John explained to Bobby.

"What about your kids?" Bobby asked.

"Kids?" John asked, turning round to where all three of the boys were watching Bobby's ancient TV, in the front room. Max loyally sitting at Sam's feet. John looked back to Bobby, he had been so intent on making plans for the hunt, he hadn't made any for the boys. "Oh, well I can...take them with me into town, get them a room at a motel. Know any good ones?"

"Yeah, right here." Bobby grumbled. While John had been reading books all day, Bobby had taken breaks and talked to the boys, it was fair to say he liked them all. They were good kids, a little crazy and wild at times, especially when the two older ones were together, but it was clear they all worshipped their Dad and looked after one another. "Stupid to have them staying in some motel when I got a spare bedroom."

"OK, if you don't mind."

Bobby rolled his eyes and nodded fiercely. "Definitely. Now have you got time for dinner before you go?"

John nodded faintly as he watched Bobby corral the boys up. He soon had all three of them helping him make a lasagna, which actually proved more troublesome than helpful. While Tony was adept at cooking this dish, Sam and Dean were more familiar with microwave meals. Suffice to say dinner was a little later and messier than Bobby had planned, but he was fine with it. It had been a long time since he'd had laughter in his home.

Before long Bobby was taking the lasagna out of the oven, Dean was buttering bread and Tony made a simple salad, John got drinks for everyone (thankfully Bobby had some juice in the fridge) and Sam set the table. And then all five men sat down to eat, Sam even managed to slip some to Max.

"This is real good Bobby," Dean said, helping himself to another piece of the delicious dish. "Thank you." Not forgetting his manners either.

"Thank yourself, you helped make it." Bobby replied.

"Not much though, I did most of it." Tony argued.

"How come you know so much about cooking then?" Bobby asked him.

"Before I was adopted by John, I lived on Long Island, my father- birth father- was a very good business man and was really rich. So we had a cook at home, she used to let me hang out in the Kitchen, I was her taste tester and so I just watched her cook and picked things up."

"Cooking and Spanish," John grinned.

"Right, so how did you come to be adopted by these boys?" Bobby asked. Tony glanced at Sam, who didn't know the full story and looked uneasily to his father, who gave a slight nod. Bobby suddenly realised he probably shouldn't have asked the question, because now Sam was paying attention.

"Umm...my parents and me were in a car accident, John found me at the side of the road and helped me. I don't have any other family, so he said I could stay with them." Tony said, trying to keep it as simple as possible.

"And he's still here," Dean said in a dry tone, though his eyes twinkled.

"Someone has to keep you in line, little brother."

"Boys, behave." John said, knowing when they were about to get into it.

"I was just about to say I have a wonderful, kind and excellent little brother," Tony said with a sly grin. Dean smiled proudly at that. "Aren't you, Sammy?" Dean gaped at him as the rest of the table laugh, before long though Dean joined in.

After dinner, John left for another 'business trip' as he told Sam, while Tony and Dean were getting their orders from Bobby. He told them there was a spare bedroom they could stay in upstairs but first they would have to take the books out. He had a very clear system for them, so he went with them to make sure they didn't mess up the stacks. Sam stayed downstairs volunteering to keep Max company.

Carefully Tony and Dean picked up the huge stacks of books and carried them down the hallway where Bobby had made some space in another room. After that all that was left in the spare bedroom was two single beds, a chest of drawers and a wardrobe. Tony moved the beds further apart so they could get the drawers between them, then Bobby brought in a cot bed that fit in at the foot of the other two, that would of course be Sam's bed. Dean claimed the bed by the window and Tony took the one next to the wall. The wardrobe stood alone in the corner of the room, but for now Tony threw everyone's bags into it.

"This room do you for the night, boys?" Bobby asked. They nodded, even if it was strange for them to stay in a bedroom in an actual house. For the past 5 or so years they had spent every night in a motel room, whether it be one month, one week or even one night, it was always a motel room. If they carried this on till they left school, Tony suspected they would have been a guest at every motel in America by then.

"Alright then, when's your bedtimes?" Bobby asked, watching them carefully to see if they were gonna pull another fast one on him.

"Sammy goes to bed at 9, me and Tony can stay up till however long we want, but we usually get tired and go to bed about 10:30." Dean answered truthfully. Since they often helped out their Dad on hunts in the dead of the night, they were used to being awake at strange hours and having unusual sleeping patterns.

"So I'm guessing from all the looks between you boys and your Daddy, that young Sammy doesn't know about the family business." Bobby said.

The boys nodded at him. "And it's gonna stay like that." Dean said protectively.

"I understand, you should really tell someone that though before they meet the kid."

"Another fellow hunter thing," Tony asked with a grin.

"You got that right," Bobby said. "Now come on, I got a pack of cards somewhere downstairs, you boys up for a few games."

"Always," Dean said with his own grin. Bobby suddenly had a feeling he might lose a bit of money tonight.

SSSSSSSSSS

A few hours later everyone was in bed, Sam was sleeping soundly as he always did. Nothing woke that boy up. Tony and Dean had gone to bed a bit closer to 10, exhausted from all the travelling and betting they had done. Bobby was still awake though, thinking about the Winchesters.

He had gotten the story of the family from John earlier, about how his wife had been killed by a demon and John was going to do whatever he could to find it and kill it. If he happened to kill any other evil supernatural being alone the way, the better. Bobby bit his tongue about the boys. He could tell the older two were already soldiers in training, hell they'd been learning about the hunt since they were 7 and had already taken out a few ghosts! It was clear though that John worshipped his boys and felt like he was doing this for their safety. Still Bobby couldn't decide if John was a good or bad parent. He was indifferent to the father.

He liked the boys though. Sam, well at 6 years-old how could anyone hate him. He was adorable, loved to help and was just so clever, when they had returned downstairs after clearing out the bedroom, they found Sam on the sofa reading one of Bobby's books. Thankfully it had been one about ghost stories, so Sam just thought the older man was really cool but said Tony knew better stories.

Dean, now he was an interesting one. He could laugh along with his brothers, had an air of confidence around him even at his age and was often cheeky to his elders, but Bobby could see underneath was a great deal of respect and sadness. He had a dry and sarcastic humor as well, and boy did he love to tease his brothers. Dean of course was 4 at the time of his mother's death, so Bobby suspected he could remember more about her than he let on. He'd had to grow up fast, it was clear he thought of himself as Sam's protector, and would do anything for his brothers.

Tony was an interesting one as well, while he looked like a Winchester and followed their way of life and loved it, it was sometimes clear he wasn't a Winchester in his attitude. He laughed more and seemed to be happier than them, which was strange because from what Tony had told him, while Dean and Sam hadn't seem their mother die, Tony had witnessed his parent's death. So Bobby knew Tony was hiding a lot of pain as well. He was just better at wearing a mask. But it was very clear he thought of himself as a Winchester now, he would be forever loyal to the family, no doubt about that.

Bobby liked having them around, and hoped one day they would be back. He could remember his wife, Karen before she had...died. They had been talking about having kids and starting a family. Bobby had been resistant, not knowing if he would be a good father, since he was never around kids. He regretted it now, he would love to have a more permanent piece of Karen with him every day, rather than just items in the house. To have a part of her life in a child, that he could hold and love, that was what he wanted.

Having the three Winchester boys there reinforced that want for a family Bobby had. As he started to drift off to sleep, he decided he would open his door to the Winchesters, if they ever needed help or a place to hide out, he would offer it to them. Like Tony he was gonna be loyal to the Winchesters, if only to offer some normalcy to those boys. His last thought before sleep claimed him that night, was hoping the boys liked pancakes for breakfast.


	6. Chapter 6 Blood Brothers

Just when I am about to update, Fanfic are doing some updating of their own. But nevertheless, here I am back with another chapter.

Once again, I apologize for the lack of updates, but I'm hoping now to get back into the swing of things because I still have plenty of chapters for you. Thanks again for my loyal reviews, I really do love reading your thoughts on this story and I value your help.

So this chapter is a little longer and I'm not sure about the ending, if it's too OOC and cheesy for the Winchesters, but I'm leaving it as is, so let me know your opinion, thanks.

Disclaimer- Though I would love to, I do NOT own Supernatural or NCIS, like many others I'm just borrowing them.

Chapter 6- Blood Brothers

Waterbury, Vermont, USA- 23rd August 1990

Dean opened his eyes and suddenly wished his was asleep again. He felt awful.

No, scratch that. He felt like shit.

Despite his body's raging war against itself, he let himself smile a little. Now they were 12 and 11, Tony and Dean had started swearing around each other, and John had started teaching Tony how to drive as well. Sometimes they had to make a quick getaway from a hunting job, so John needed someone else behind the wheel and with Tony being the oldest, he was first choice. Dean had given Tony the silent treatment for the first couple of days after his first driving lesson. He couldn't help it, ever since he was a kid, he had been in love with the Impala. But he knew he just had to wait a while longer and he would be driving his baby, too.

But for now, Dean couldn't even get out of bed.

"Time to get up Dean," Sam said, shaking his older brother.

"Don't!" Dean shouted, the movement jarring his painful stomach.

His brother's sudden outburst shocked Sam and immediately stopped the youngest Winchester. Tony, who had been pouring cereal for them all, looked over.

"You OK, lil brother?" Tony asked, coming over to Dean. He knew instantly his brother was sick.

"I'm fine," Dean insisted, still lying down.

"Really?"

"Yeah, nothing's up."

Tony turned to Sam who was looking at his brothers. "Sammy, go get your breakfast, you can pour the milk for us all."

Sam smiled and ran to the tiny Kitchen area, excited at being endowed with such a task.

"Shall I get the rock salt then? Cause you're as pale as a ghost." Tony said questioningly.

Tony and Dean stared at each other, daring each other to back down. This time though Dean's illness forced him to bend first.

"Fine," Dean said, rolling his eyes. "My stomach's real bad, and I'm feeling really hot."

Tony put a hand to Dean's forehead and nodded. "Yep, you're burning up. Fever. You think you're gonna throw up soon?"

Dean nodded weakly. Tony grabbed the waste bin and set it next to the bed. "Here you go, take it easy. Could be food poisoning, knowing our lifestyle I'm surprised one of us hasn't gotten it before."

Even though they lived out of their car, and travelled over all sorts of terrains and climates throughout America, the Winchesters were rarely ill or sick. Sure they were injured on the job, but other than the occasional travel sickness, fever in high temperate states and the infamous case of the Chicken Pox that Sam gotten from school then nicely shared with his brothers, the Winchesters never really had any reason to go to the doctors. Which John was obviously glad about, wanting to stay off the radar as much as possible. Because hospitals led to records, which was the last thing John needed to worry about.

John was currently on his way back from a job, he had found a lead about the Yellow-Eyed Demon and didn't want the boys tagging along. He let them go on countless ghost hunts, some rare creatures and demons but 'ole Yellow Eyes was his. Unfortunately the lead had turned into a ghoul hunt, so John was now returning to Vermont from Rhode Island.

Till then, Tony was in charge.

"OK, just rest for now." Tony instructed, while he straightened out the covers over Dean, and went to get him a glass of water. "I'll take Sammy out to the park after breakfast and pick up some more food." Dean nodded, as Tony set the drink on the bedside table. "Let me know if you need anything." But Tony got no reply as Dean was already drifting off again.

Tony went back to the Kitchen and managed to stop Sammy pouring milk in Dean's cereal. "Just us for breakfast Sammy, Dean's not feeling well. So we're gonna be real quiet and let him rest, OK?"

"OK, Tony." Sam whispered, looking worriedly between his brothers. "Is he gonna be OK?"

"Yeah just ate something bad," Tony replied.

"But we all eat the same things, how come we're not sick?"

"I guess Dean's a bit more delicate than us." Tony grinned. "Come on eat your cereal, I promise that's safe. Then we'll go to the store and see if they have any medicine for him."

"Good idea, T." Sam said approvingly, before devouring his slightly stale Apple Jacks. Tony ate his own cereal while making a mental grocery list. John had been gone for two weeks now, Tony and Dean understood though. When it was the Yellow-Eyed Demon, John got tunnel vision and would do near enough anything to get him.

But this time, John had left them in a good town, Waterbury, Vermont. The main reason they loved it was because it was the hometown of the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream factory and they were staying in a motel which was just a 15 minute walk from the place. In the fortnight they'd been in town, they had already gone there 6 times, sampling as much as they could and pretty much living off the cold treat, after promising to keep it a secret between the three of them.

Today was one of the days when the Winchesters were just like everyone other American family and went grocery shopping at their local supermarket. Tony loved going shopping, he liked the sense of normalcy that went with it and could spend hours in there, just perusing the aisles and shelves. Sam also like shopping and always took the chance to go with Tony. John and Dean, on the other hand, were more concerned with getting in, grabbing what they needed then leaving in a cloud of dust.

So while Dean got his rest, Tony and Sam walked to a nearby market and took their time.

"So what cereal do you want this time, Sammy?"

"I dunno, maybe Froot Loops. But Cocoa Krispies are awesome. I love chocolate milk," Sam said, grinning up at Tony. "What do you think T?"

"I agree, Cocoa Krispies are the best, chocolate for breakfast it is." Tony replied, grabbing the box and putting it in the basket. Since they were on foot, they had to limit what they were getting. They usually only bought a few things when they had to and ate most of what they got in the motels, since John didn't like cluttering up the Impala with food.

But occasionally they took long-dated food with them in the car to the next motel. Sam had recently become fond of Jelly Beans, so Tony picked up a bag and put them in the basket as well. "Thanks, T."

"You're welcome, Sammy."

"Should we get something special for Dean?"

"Good thinking, what do you think he'll like?" Tony asked as the wandered down the main aisle of the store.

"Popcorn!" Sam cried, running up to the mountain of tubs which contained the sugary food.

"Awesome," Tony agreed, grabbing one of the tubs. "You'll have to carry it though."

"No problem," Sam said taking the popcorn from Tony, and holding it like it was the most important item in the world. 'And to Sam it is,' Tony thought. 'A present for his big brother, his hero.' While Tony had no doubts about being part of the Winchester family, he was often envious of the relationship between Sam and Dean. After all they had something he would never share with them. They were blood brothers, pure and simple. They held a bond with each other that he could never be part of. Tony tried not to dwell on that too much though, and focused on the fact that they had wanted him to be part of their family.

Before they left the store, Tony stopped in the Health aisle, grabbing a couple of boxes of Ibuprofen and a home thermometer for Dean, just in case. And when they got to the checkouts, Tony chose the longest line hoping the slow, lazy teenager cashier wouldn't question a kid buying Medicine. Because he wasn't honestly sure if could buy them, so he just hoped the older kid would put them through and they could get out of the store quickly.

And thankfully his prayers were answered, in just 15 minutes they were walking down the road with their groceries. They returned to the motel and Tony quickly checked on Dean. He was still sleeping so Tony decided it would be better to take Sam to the park then and let Dean get as much as rest as he obviously needed.

"All the groceries away, Sammy?" Tony asked, as Sam put the cereal in the cupboard.

"Yep, all done. How's Dean?"

"Still resting, you wanna go to the park now?"

Sam looked over at Dean, a little wary. "You sure we should leave him?"

"Yeah, the best thing for him now is sleep. Our bodies do a lot of healing in our sleep." Tony explained.

"OK, if you're sure." Sam said earnestly.

"Trust me Sam, I'm your big, big brother."

Sam smiled as Tony led him out, making sure the door was locked before they walked to the motel's local park. Since Sam had started school, his passion for reading had developed enormously, and quickly caught up in all his classes and then blew through them with every new school they went to. But he still liked playing at the park and running around with his brothers, actually he thrived on joining them with anything.

So after both Sam and Tony had let off a lot of steam on the swings, roundabout and slide, they returned once again to the motel. This time though, Dean was just stirring.

"Hey little brother, how you feeling?" Tony asked, going over to Dean's side.

Unable to answer, Dean promptly leant over and threw up in the trash can.

"Not good." Tony stated, handing a cloth to Dean. "Here I got some medicine and a thermometer from the store. Let me check your fever. Open up." Tony instructed as he put the thermometer under Dean's tongue.

"How are you Dean?" Sam asked, climbing onto the bed, much more gently this time.

After a closer look, Tony noticed Dean seemed to be in a lot more pain than before. "Dean where are you hurting?"

Still with the thermometer in his mouth, Dean simply lifted his top up and pointed to the right side of his torso. Tony looked closer and noticed a little discoloration there, prodding it a little, Dean let out a cry and pushed Tony's hands away.

"Dude, damn that hurt!" Dean protested. Tony picked up the thermometer which had dropped from Dean's mouth and his eyes widened.

"104!" Tony cried.

"Is that bad?" Sam asked, holding a hand over Dean's forehead.

"Very bad." Tony said. "This temperature is enough to go to the hospital."

"NO! Tony, we can't." Dean argued.

"Dean, you have a very high fever and there is something wrong with your stomach. You might had an infection or...something's wrong with your muscles or...I don't know." Tony said frustratingly. "But something is wrong with you, I'm calling an ambulance."

"Tony, please. What are we gonna tell them about Dad?" Dean asked. "Look, I'll be fine. I just need rest like you said, the fever will go down. And maybe it's just something I ate, food poising that's what you said this morning."

"I think we should go to the hospital, that's what doctors are for." Sam put in. Not quite understanding his older brother's refusal for seeing doctors.

"Tony, don't..." Dean began, trying to sit up, but just leant over to throw up again. "Please, just...leave it-" Before Tony could argue though, Dean became unconscious and fell back onto the bed.

"Dean, wake up. Dean!" Sam cried, gently shaking his brother's shoulder.

"Sam, off the bed. I'm calling for an ambulance now!" Tony insisted, picking up the motel room's phone and dialed the number he never thought he would have to.

"Yes, I need an ambulance. Hurry, please!" Tony said, panicking a little. "We're in Room 8 at the Best Western Inn, it's in Waterbury, Vermont. My brother's been sick all day, and he just went unconscious." Tony paused as the operator asked a few questions. "He's 11. He's had a fever all day and been sick a couple of times. Is the ambulance on it's way?"

After what felt like a lifetime, all the while the operator and Tony kept taking turns interrogating each other, the ambulance finally arrived. While the paramedics, sorted Dean out onto a gurney and tried waking him up, Tony scribbled a quick note for when John returned, already thinking about what their father would say.

But he couldn't think about the legal ramifications this might bring up, Tony knew that even John would agree Dean had to go to the hospital. Thankfully the paramedics allowed Tony and Sam to ride with them in the ambulance, as long as they stayed out of the way. Tony suspected they agreed as soon as they saw Sam's puppy dog face and the tears in his eyes. There was no way anyone could be immune to that look.

Tony tried to pay attention to what they were saying but there were just too many medical terms and jargon thrown about, so he just sat quietly in the van and waited till they got to the hospital which didn't take long.

As soon as they opened the doors and were met by a flurry of doctors, the paramedic relayed the information Tony was needed to hear. "11 year-old boy, Dean Winchester. No tests run but from symptoms and the pain on his right side I would say it's an appendicitis."

"I knew it!" Tony yelled before he could stop himself.

While Dean was led away to get checked and have tests run for an official diagnosis, a man took Tony and Sam to the side. "My name is Doctor David Warren, you can call me Doctor Dave, though. I'm gonna be one of the doctors looking after Dean. Are you his brothers?"

"Yes," Tony nodded, looking at the Doctor warily, while Sam stared at the door Dean had disappeared through, holding Tony's hand in a death grip.

"Can you tell me how your brother got sick?"

"Why aren't you helping him?" Tony asked suddenly. "You said you're one of the doctors looking after him, why aren't you in there?"

The Doctor smiled at the young boy's protective nature. "I am helping him and you can too by telling me what you know, this information will be able to help Dean get better quicker. OK? So please answer my questions. Now..."

SNSNSNSNSN

A few hours later, Doctor Dave was on his way to check on Dean, they now had a diagnosis but they couldn't move forward until his father arrived. Doctor Dave had been keeping a close eye on the boys. After he had informed them he needed their help the older boy had quickly complied. He had told them they were in town visiting family, and their father had gone on a fishing trip with his brother so they hadn't been able to contact him but he was due back that evening and would find their note. Until then the older boy who he found out was named Tony, looked after Sam the youngest child.

Tony seemed determined that nothing would happen to Sam on his watch, and when Dean had gone through his tests, he demanded they go to his room. There Tony had kept watch over Dean and insisted on being told everything that was happening to him.

Meanwhile, Sam had clung to Tony like a lifeline and when they had gone to Dean's room, the boy had yet to let go of either of his older brother's hands. He seemed intent on keeping them together. Dean was in and out of consciousness, but when he was awake, it seemed like he didn't want to cause his brothers any more worry and tried to not let the pain show.

Throughout his career, he had seen a lot of families. People who had no one, people whose relatives tried to cram themselves into the room, people who screamed at their loved ones to get out, people who wept while clinging to their families. But these three boys were something else, they had a very close and special bond. The Doctor had no idea what these boy's full story was but he was willing to bet it was something incredible. The way they looked after each other and trusted each other, it was clear in their eyes they were each other's lives. Even though he was a grown man, the older man couldn't help but feel a little jealous of them.

He was brought out of his thoughts, by a scruffy looking man shouting from down the hall. "Just tell me, where the hell is my son? I want to see my son!"

"Excuse me, what's gong on here?" Doctor Dave asked, stepping up to the man. Instantly he could see the sam suspicious eyes and wary look. "Are you Dean Winchester's father?"

The man looked slightly taken aback but nodded. "Yes, I'm John. Where is he? What's wrong with him?"

"I'm his Doctor. David Warren. I was just on my way to check on Dean. He has an acute inflamed appendix, and we're waiting for you to sign off on his surgery. We've been holding off until you arrived but we do need to move quickly now."

"Surgery?" The man breathed heavily and looked around before nodding again. "OK, that's fine. But I wanna see him."

"Of course this way."

As soon as the two men stepped into the room, all three boys yelled at the sight of him. "DAD!" And since the first time they had arrived, Sam let go of his brother's hands launching himself at his father. He seemed to be in the mind, that now his father was here, everything would be OK.

"Dean's hurt. They said it's his ap-pen-dix." The youngest child informed, sounding out the word.

"Don't worry, the Doctor's are gonna make him all better." John promised. He crossed the room to his older son and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're gonna be fine Dean."

While Dean knew they didn't have the best father, they did love him and trusted him implicitly. And one look into his father's eyes, Dean believed him. Just like that.

SNSNSNSNSN

Two weeks later, the Winchesters were driving to New Mexico. Dean's surgery had gone well, no complications to speak of and he had been out of the hospital a week later. With a little help from Bobby, John had managed to foot the hospital bill not wanting to raise any concern by using a fake credit card, especially since they had the family's real names.

That didn't stop him from wanting to get away as soon as Dean had been allowed to. After a few days bed rest in the motel and a round of antibiotics, his middle child was good to go. So the family left quickly, and John prayed they wouldn't have to return to Vermont anytime soon.

The whole situation had surprised him, until now none of the boys had really been sick. And while he never thought that he would lose Dean, he learned his boys were just that. Young boys who could get sick, nothing made that more profound to him than seeing his son sweating on a hospital bed. His pale face matching the white sheets, desperately clutching at his brother's hands.

John had also seen another side of Sam and Tony throughout this ordeal. Sam had grown up, seeing his older brother's as invincible. With Dean sick, Sam had suddenly had to be protective and look after him. When they got back to the motel, Sam seemed to take over as the nurse which Dean and Tony had teased him about. But there was no denying he took care of Dean. He made sure the boy got his medicine, took him wash clothes and made sure he ate a few healthy meals (well as healthy as the Winchesters could get) and read to him when Dean was still feeling a little pain.

Meanwhile Tony had tried to get things back to normal, joking with Dean and teasing him about being lazy. But John knew it was just the eldest boy's way of dealing with what happened. He looked out for Dean and this had scared him because he had no control over this situation. But from what John had learned, Tony had been excellent in getting Dean to the hospital.

As the family arrived at their latest 'home', John helped Dean out of the car and into the motel room. Still a little unstable, he immediately fell asleep. With Tony and Sam carefully trailing after him and getting him settled. That was them, the Winchester family. They may not be the perfect All-American family, but there was no denying they looked out for each other.


	7. Chapter 7 Merry Christmas

0Another chapter for you. I know it's out of season but I had to write about this event in the Winchester's life. It also has more Sam in it than usual and not much brother interaction, hope you don't mind.

Thanks again for the reviews and keeping up with the story, much appreciated.

Disclaimer- I do NOT own Supernatural, NCIS or any of their characters.

Chapter 7- Merry Christmas

Broken Bow, Nebraska, USA- 26th December 1991

He always knew. He had never questioned it as a kid, Tony was just Tony. His big brother, like Dean. But as he got older, he had found out the truth. A couple of years before in April Tony had become uncharacteristically quiet and had been in a very bad mood, Sam even suspected he heard Tony crying in the bathroom although the older boy had vehemently denied it. But later John had sat Sam down and explained that Tony was actually his adopted brother, his parents dying when he was younger like their Mom had, but Tony didn't have any family so he had come to stay with the Winchesters. Tony was upset because it was the anniversary of his parent's death. And even though he loved being part of the Winchester family, he still got a little sad on the 25th of April, so they all tended to leave him alone that day, just like Tony knew to be more quiet and understanding of the Winchesters on the 2nd of November.

Sam didn't think too much about it though, he had grown up with Tony, so even though Tony had been born with different parents it didn't matter to him. Tony was and always would be his big brother. Tony did sometimes talk about his parents or his 'old life' as he called it, but always simple and funny stories, nothing too telling.

But now things were slightly different, their father had been on another 'business trip' for Christmas, and this time Sam knew what those business trips were really about. Their father wasn't a traveling salesman as he had always been led to believe, but he was actually fighting monsters. As in, real life monsters.

Sam had seen enough horror films with Tony and heard enough stories from him to know the basics about ghosts, vampires, witches and werewolves but as he thought about it, Tony's stories always had a little more detail when it came to supernatural beings and now Sam knew why.

Apparently Tony and Dean had gone on hunts with their father, as they were called, fighting these supernatural beings. And he had also learned the truth about how his mother had really died, and that was what got Sam thinking this morning.

John had simply told Sam that Tony's parents had died in a car accident and they took him in, but now after finding out the family secret, Sam couldn't help but think there was more to it. After all, if it had been a simple car accident then why had Tony come to live with the Winchesters when Social Services would never have let him stay with them. Sam knew his family was different but he loved it, and he knew he was lucky that they hadn't all been taken from John already.

While Sam was thinking things over, Tony was cooking breakfast for the three of them, John was still gone but he had called late the night before to wish the boys a Merry Christmas, which the boys had returned dutifully. Dean had instructed Sam to tell their father that he knew the truth face to face, knowing their father would want to explain a few things to him and wouldn't do that over the phone. The boys ate their breakfast in silence, only broken when Dean announced he was having a shower. After he disappeared into the bathroom, Tony immediately led Sam to the sofa, knowing what Dean was doing for them and very grateful for it.

"Go ahead, ask the question that's been burning in your mind, Sammy boy?" Tony grinned.

"Well now I know what happened to my Mom, what really happened to your parents?" Sam asked.

"Technically it was a car accident..." seeing the disgruntled look on Sam's face, Tony quickly continued. "However it was caused by a werewolf. It ran out in front of us and my Dad had to brake quickly. It saw us and that was it, I managed to hide in the backseat but my parents weren't so lucky. Dad...your Dad, was driving past on the road and stopped to help us, he found me. He tried to help my Dad but he was already dead so instead John just took me in. Saved my life. Because of the lack of evidence and...body parts, the police assumed I had died with my parents."

"I'm sorry," was the only thing Sam could think of to say.

"It's OK, unfortunately my parents weren't the best parents in the world, I remember my Dad spent a lot of time at the office and my Mum loved a drink or two...or a dozen during the day." Tony said with a frown. "I'm not happy about what happened to them, I would never want to wish that on anyone and at times I do miss them, wonder if they had lived would they have changed, maybe we could have been a closer family later...but I'm not sorry I'm with you guys. I am proud and happy to be a Winchester."

Sam nodded, understanding more.

"Is that OK with you?" Tony asked quietly.

"Is what?"

"That I'm a Winchester?"

Sam stared at him, looking incredulous, "of course it is!" Sam heaved a sigh and looked Tony in the eye. "T, you have been my big brother since I can remember. In fact I can't remember my life without you. You know I love you, and I'm glad you're part of this crazy family as well."

Tony smiled, and gave his little brother a quick hug, not quick enough though. Dean suddenly came out of the bathroom and moaned. "Oh no, please tell me you're done with your chick flick moment or should I stay in the bathroom?"

They boys pulled apart and smiled at their middle brother, "it's fine Dean, you can come out of hiding." Tony said. Dean smiled ruefully and came over to the couch.

"Everything good here?" He asked, looking at his brothers.

"Yeah, we're good." Sam said.

"Great, in fact." He said catching Sam's eye.

Sam smiled. "Perfect."

"Awesome."

"Fantastic."

While Dean continued to look between them, they each grabbed one of his arms and pulled him down onto the couch between them and started roughhousing on him.

"Guys, lemme go!" He cried, as Sam pounced on him.

"No, we will never let you go," Tony said, hugging Dean from behind.

"Yeah, because we love you," Sam said mockingly, wrapping his arms round Dean's middle.

"Guys, cut it out." Dean protested.

"Not till you say it." Tony said.

"Yeah, you know you want to," Sam agreed.

And that was how John Winchester found his sons that late morning. Coming in the door, seeing all three of them on the couch just as Dean yelled out. "OK, OK, I love you guys!"

"Always nice to my boys getting along."

Momentarily forgetting the anger towards their father all three boys sat up happily, crying out a joyous, "DAD!" They quickly ran to him and gave him a tight hug as well.

"Are you OK?" Dean asked, business as usual.

"Did you bring presents?" Tony, the near teenager, asked excitedly.

Sam stayed silent though and let his brothers do the talking as he remembered he was angry at his father, he faded back to the couch while Tony and Dean continued to chat with John. He did indeed have presents with him, but only the basic of gifts.

Some large candy bags and a couple of new shirts each, but still it was things they needed and John had specifically bought them for the boys, knowing what they each liked. With green being Dean's favored color and the Jelly Worms for him. Tony had a red shirt with a huge bag of Jelly Beans, while Sam got blue colored clothing and a generous helping of M&Ms.

While Dean and Tony tore into their candy, Sam carefully put his presents on the bed and waited for his father to finish washing up. He knew John probably wanted to sleep after hunting and travelling all week but Sam was desperate to talk to his father about the big family secret.

"Hey Dad, can I talk to you?" Sam asked as John entered the small living area and collapsed onto the bed.

"Can't it wait Sammy? I'm beat." John said, already closing his eyes.

"Chasing after the demon that killed Mom?" Sam asked innocently. His simple question had the desired effect. John bolted upright and looked at his youngest son, his face a mixture of confusion, shame and horror. Tony and Dean took one look at their father, then each other and stood up immediately.

"We're gonna go for a walk." Tony said breathlessly, as both boys raced out of the motel room, grabbing their jackets on the way out. Their current town was like every other town they visited, not much to see or places to go. Even more so today since it was Boxing Day, Tony would be very surprised if they found one place that was open in town.

"Damn! I didn't mean for Sam to tell him like that." Dean grumbled zipping up his coat, after both boys had run a couple of blocks.

"Well Sammy isn't as young or stupid as he acts now." Tony said with a wry grin. Suddenly though his words sunk into both of the older boys. Sam knew the truth now, all those years they spent protecting his innocence was over. They were still going to look out for their little brother, no doubt. But it was a whole different game now.

"Yeah, he's growing up." Dean said quietly.

"Don't worry, he's still our little brother. He still has do what we say and look up to us."

"I dunno, have you seen how much's he grown in the past couple of years. He's not gonna be small for much longer." Dean joked.

After walking a couple of blocks more they came across a local park and decided to let our their inner child, and proceeded to spend the next couple of hours, chasing each other and playing on the playground rides, chatting about anything and everything.

SNSNSNSNSN

Meanwhile back at the motel room, John had regained his speech and was slowly deciding how to approach this conversation. One thing for sure, he was definitely awake now.

"Sammy...what do you know?" He asked gently, trying to gauge how much of his youngest son's innocence was now gone.

"I found your book. The one you write all your notes in, about...monsters."

"So you know that they-"

"Are real? Yeah. That you lied to me for years? Yeah."

"Sam-"

"No Dad, how could you do that? I know you must have done it to protect me in some weird way but was it really the best way? It makes sense now, us moving all the time. You working all nights, going away for weeks. All your friends, do they do this as well? Do Uncle Bobby and Pastor Jim know?"

John stood up and went over to Sam who was breathing heavily, after finishing his rant. "Sam, please listen to me." Sam went quiet but looked away. John sighed and sat them both down on the couch. "Sammy, I am so sorry I didn't tell you. But yes, you're right. I did that because I thought it was the safer option and wanted to protect you. It's why I do all of this, to protect you and Dean and Tony."

"Why?"

"Well as you might have noticed, all these supernatural creatures aren't exactly well known to the police and others. But they can hurt people, someone has to protect them." John said quietly.

Sam looked up at his father then. And for the first time, he actually looked at him and saw him not as a father, but as a hunter. All those years of hunting by himself and spending all the hours of the day looking after others, protecting strangers from monsters and taking care of his sons, had definitely taken it's toll on their father. Right then, the only word Sam could think of to describe his father was tired.

"What about Mom?"

"What about your mother?"

"In your book, you said she was killed by a demon...with yellow eyes. Have you stopped him?"

John sighed heavily. "No, it's the one that keeps getting away. That's how it started actually. I didn't know about this world until that night. But after what I saw, I couldn't ignore that there were strange creatures out there and not many people knew about them. So I began searching for the demon, and decided I would get any other monster along the way."

Sam was silent again as he thought about what his father was saying, and still trying to get his head round everything. "So do Bobby and Pastor Jim know?"

"Yeah, Pastor Jim actually called me when a family needed help with...a ghost." He said tentatively, but he didn't need to worry. Sam just nodded. "And Bobby knows. But he doesn't hunt that often, he's more the book guy."

"Duh," Sam said quietly. John let out the first smile of the day at that.

"Yeah, Bobby does all the research for other hunters."

"So there are others?"

"Yep, not many. I've met a few and helped them out but I prefer to work alone."

"And with Tony and Dean?"

John took another deep breath, readying himself to deal with this revelation too. "Yeah, they've hunted with me. They're getting older so I needed their help and I wanted them to protect you if I wasn't around."

"Yeah, they're good at that. I asked Tony about his parents this morning. He told me what happened."

"I couldn't leave him, not after what he had seen." John explained. "What are you thinking, Sammy?"

"I'm thinking you can go to bed now. I'm gonna just read for a bit, I'll be quiet. I still need to think and I might have more questions but it's gonna be a while for me." Sam explained softly.

John nodded. "Alright Sammy." Before he could stop himself, he gave the boy a quick hug and then settled onto the bed again. The last thing he saw before his eyes closed was Sam settling onto the couch with one of his school books.

Sam was right, they still had a way to go before the Winchester family was back to their 'normal' but this was a start. At least there would no more hiding between them all. Even John knew that it meant his youngest son was growing up now.


	8. Chapter 8 Small Town

If there is anyone out there still reading this first off I must apologize profusely for the lateness of this chapter. Don't you just hate it when real life has to get in the way of fanfic! So to make it up a little to you, this is an extra long chapter.

Thanks so much for your reviews of my previous chapter, I'm happy readers are responding well and giving good advice. It really does help my shape the chapters, and keep things in perspective.

As always NCIS and Supernatural are NOT mine, I'll gladly borrow them for a while though.

Chapter 8- Small Town

La Crosse, Kansas, USA- 24th January 1992

Kansas. As Dorothy famously said about the state, "There's no place like home." While that may be true, the Winchesters were there for the first time in 8 years. Even though Sam and Dean had both been born there and so it was essentially their home state, after Mary had died and John took them away, they never returned.

But here they were, they had been visiting Bobby when he had told them about a family that were being terrorised by a poltergeist in their home and they were desperate, the catch was their house was in Kansas. John had point blank refused to go at first, but after a lot of talking with Bobby and the family themselves, he agreed. So while they were nowhere near Lawrence, three of the Winchesters felt uneasy about being here.

Sam was curious, after all he had been born here, it was the last place his mother had been. He had wanted to return to their hometown before but after seeing the look on his father's face, he knew better than to ask.

Dean was nervous and sad, he couldn't remember much about Lawrence or Kansas. He was only 4 when they left, but he still had a few memories from then, that he went over in his mind privately at times. He could handle Kansas but not Lawrence, so he was relieved when John said they were going to the town of La Crosse, which was well over 200 miles away from their former hometown.

John was confused, hurting and just plain angry. He had never wanted to return here, it brought bad memories of the last time he was here. He always knew though that one day he would have to come back, and that day had finally come.

Tony felt sad for his brothers. Obviously he didn't feel much towards Mary except sadness, he hadn't known her nor was she his mother. He had seen a couple of photos of her that Dean had hidden away, but they rarely talked about her. Still he knew his brothers missed her terribly, so he felt bad for them. He also had no objections to Kansas, he had never been there before, had never had a reason to. Until now. He knew this would be hard for his family but he would be there for them, should they need any kind of help.

And they had to come back on today of all days. It was Dean's 13th birthday. He was officially a teenager now. John had jokingly lamented about the upcoming day. "God help me, now I have two teenagers." But truth be told, he didn't have to worry. Tony and Dean, while some may seem them as childish and immature had actually grown up a lot more than most children their age. Acting like kids was just their way of letting off steam.

They had left Bobby's house the day before, and he had given Dean an early birthday present. Dean had been quite surprised by the gift, the newest Metallica album containing the hit that the family had been hearing on the radio since last summer- Enter Sandman. Since John rarely had any spare money for presents and toys except of course at Christmas and Birthdays, the album had still been too expensive. Most of their money either went on food, motels or clothes. Occasionally he would need a book to help him, but most of the time for that they went to a Library. And when it did come to that time of year for presents, John usually got them more clothes or a new knife or a long-term lighter, something they needed, he never asked them if they wanted anything special. So they usually just made do with what they had. Of course sometimes the boys had their own ways of getting a bit of pocket change.

As they crossed over the state line and went into Kansas, John took a deep breath and chanced a look at the boys. Dean and Sam were fast asleep in the back, though to be fair it was 4:30 in the morning. They had left Bobby's house really late at night or very early in the morning (whichever way you wanted to take it), and with John gunning it the whole way there on the deserted highways they were making good time.

Looking over to the passenger seat, John noticed Tony was still awake. "How you doing there, kid?" John asked his eldest son.

"Feel like I should be asking you that." He replied quietly. John fought a smile as he wondered if Tony was talking softly for his brothers or because his voice was now changing as part of his teenage years. Something which Dean and Sam took great delight in teasing him about, which led to Tony speaking a lot less recently. It had been the longest Tony had kept quiet since they had taken him in, which just meant even more ribbing from his brothers. Some days he went the full 24 hours without speaking.

"What do you mean?"

"I know this won't be easy for you. Any of you. Being back in Kansas." Tony said, checking to make sure his brothers were still sleeping.

"No it won't. But it sounds like this family is desperate. So we'll help them and leave." John stated, there were no questions about it.

"You don't think it might be good for the boys to stay here a bit and get to know the place. It is their home state." Tony pointed out.

"If they want to come back they can when they're older. Until then I'm going to find the monster responsible for taking their mother."

"You think he'll ever come back to Kansas?"

"The Yellow-Eyed Demon?"

"Yeah, he might go back to Lawrence. You know, to make it even harder for you." Tony queried, genuinely curious.

"No, I've kept a close eye on Lawrence over the years and while a few things have happened there, nothing like...Mary." John looked over at Tony, and smiled sadly at the teen. "Try and get some sleep Tony, we should be there in a couple of hours."

Tony nodded, realising the conversation was now over. He sighed and wondered if his family would ever truly be at peace.

SNSNSNSNSN

At 6 o'clock, early morning, the Winchesters had arrived at the best rated motel in town. While John checked in, the boys slowly woke up and tried to become more alert, not easy being crammed into the car. That was another thing John had noticed, all three boys were literally growing up fast- physically. He already had Tony and Dean doing drills and training to make them physically more capable of fighting. And Sam had learned a few moves over the past couple of weeks.

After they got settled into their room, John told the boys he was going to get a bit of sleep after driving all night. Tony announced then that the brothers were going to get a special 'Birthday Breakfast' for Dean at the diner across the street. John just smiled and handed them some money.

As they raced over the road and burst into the small restaurant, they were happy to find they were the only customers. Since it had only been open for 20 mins, that wasn't surprising.

"So come on then Birthday Boy, what's the best table?" Tony asked, clapping an arm round Dean's shoulders. As he suspected, Dean wisely chose the rounded booth at the back and sat against the wall so he could over see everything. Tony rolled his eyes at Sam and they both took a place either side of him.

"Happy Birthday Dean," Sam said happily as they all picked up a menu.

"Thanks Sammy. Though you do know this means you're the only kid in the family now." Dean teased.

"Aww, lil Sammy Wee-Chester." Tony said with a cheeky grin.

"Shut up." Sam said, staring at the plastic sheet in front of him.

"Hey there, how you boys doing this morning?" The boys looked up to see their waitress was a typical diner waitress, a pretty young woman, probably trying to put her way through college.

"Hey, we're doing fine. This one especially." Tony said pointing at Dean, who shot him a warning look. "It's his birthday. 13 today."

"Really?" The young girl asked, smiling. "Well that deserves something special. How about I get our cook to make you some chocolate chip pancakes with ice-cream? Who says you can't have dessert for breakfast?"

"Well since Dad works the night shift, not him." Tony said, realising someone might get suspicious with the boys being in the diner that early by themselves. Thankfully his voice was having one of it's better days, so he could handle all the smooth talking to avoid people getting on their case.

"Great, I'll get you that. What about to drink?"

"Just orange juice all round, thanks." Tony replied, even though John let him and Dean drink coffee to keep them alert, they still didn't have a keen taste for it so they only drank it when they needed to. "Also can we get Waffles and French Toast to share, all the best breakfast foods please."

"Can do, Happy Birthday kid." She smiled, as she left to place their order.

"T, we don't have enough money for all that." Dean whispered to his older brother.

"No worries, I still got some money left over from my lunchtime poker game at school. One of the best things about being a teen now, a lot of other kids are willing to bet their money too." Tony said slyly to Dean with a grin, as it suddenly dawned on the younger boy.

"That's why you always have money for candy."

"Of course little brother, Dad's not giving it to me, you think he wants us to rot all our teeth out. I always give him some for food and gas though, so he looks away."

Dean just shook his head and smiled before turning to Sam. "So what did you get me?"

"It's back at the motel." Sam smiled.

Dean's eyes widened, suddenly wondering how his brother's were suddenly becoming so wealthy. "I was just kidding Sammy, you didn't have to get me a present."

"Course I did, it's your birthday."

Thankfully before Dean could declare it a 'Chick Flick Moment', the waitress brought their drinks over. "So how did you get out here on your birthday?" She asked Dean.

"Oh, we're just taking a little road trip with our Dad." Dean said, swigging his juice.

"I thought he was on the nightshift." She asked, her eyes narrowing at them all.

Dean and Tony looked at each other but quick thinking Sam saved them. "He was but he took the week off to take us on this trip, he's still on nightshift time though, so he drove last night and he's just getting some sleep. We're allowed to explore a little then we meet up with him later." He added a sincere grin, ensuring the waitress bought their story.

Which she did. "Cool, hope you don't go causing any trouble in town."

"Course not." Tony grinned, inside sighing with relief.

"I dunno, you look like you're all gonna be heartbreakers when you get older." She said, walking away.

Tony and Dean smiled, watching after her. Sam just rolled his eyes and continued playing the puzzles on the menu.

"So how are you two feeling?" Tony asked after a couple minutes silence.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"About being back here." Tony answered. "Kansas."

"I dunno, last time I was here...I was a baby." Sam said with a faint smile. Poor kid hadn't heard much about his mother, even now that he knew the truth John and Dean were still reluctant to talk about Mary Winchester. So Sam was still without memories or stories of her.

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "Dean?"

"What?" He said, pretending to study the menu, his nose practically touching it. Tony raised his eyebrows at Sam, even with that one word Tony could tell his younger brother was still very touchy and defensive.

"Dean, it's us. Come on, you can speak to your brothers." Tony said softly. "We know this is gonna be hard, you actually remember Mary-"

"Don't Tony. I just wanna have breakfast, get rid of that stupid ghost and then get the hell out of here. And with-out talking about Mom."

"Fine, but maybe Sam wants to talk about her."

Dean sighed and looked at his eager younger brother but was saved by the waitress again.

"Food's up boys, and I must say, it smells great." She said brightly, placing the plates down. One held a huge stack of pancakes with ice-cream piled on top and some more scoops in another bowl. "All the flavors we have." Then she put down another plate piled high with Waffles, drowning in Maple Syrup, and fruit on the side. "Ill just get the rest."

The boys eyes widened, even with their huge appetites they wondered if they could eat all of this. Before they could eat anything though, the waitress was back and put down another plate this time covered with many slices of French Toast topped with chocolate syrup and whipped cream. She then put three empty plates on the table. "Ta-da, our very first Birthday Breakfast Feast, hope you like it."

"Oh I think we will," Tony exclaimed a smile growing on his face. "Happy Birthday, bro."

"Sorry I wasn't allowed to put any candles on. Still, enjoy boys." Their waitress smiled brightly before leaving them to it.

"So...um dig in?" Sam asked.

All three of them grinned at each other before doing just that, taking large portions of everything.

SNSNSNSNSN

It didn't take long for the boys to make a huge dent in their delicious breakfast. Soon enough just the scraps were left, but of course they weren't gonna let them go to waste and were slowly eating them.

"Well thank you for breakfast T," Dean said, finishing off the ice-cream.

"Good food here," Sam agreed. "I like that though, it's always the small towns with these local diners, that usually have the best chefs hidden away."

"Probably on the run from something." Tony murmured, as he ate the last pancake.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I guess we would know all about that."

"So how you fellas doing? Anything else I can get you?" Their eager waitress asked, passing their table. The diner had a few more patrons now, but most were just ignoring the boys and getting on with their own mornings.

"No thank you, that was just perfect. Exactly what we needed for the birthday boy." Tony said, clapping an arm round Dean.

"Thank you, that was a great breakfast." Dean smiled.

"I hope I get one for my birthday." Sam said, as the waitress began clearing the table.

"Can you just bring the check for us?" Tony asked, already pulling money out his pocket.

"Sure."

A couple of minutes later she returned with a slip of paper. Glancing at it, Tony frowned. "Is this right? It seems a little cheap?"

"Half price Birthday deal."

"Oh you don't have to-" Tony protested.

"Nope, no arguments." She smiled. Tony returned it and counted the correct money out and a hefty tip for the pretty young woman who had been so kind to them, and that still left him with quite a bit of cash.

"Thanks."

"Cheers."

"Thank you very much, Miss."

All three of them clambered out of their seats and rushed out the door. Once out they all began burning off their breakfast by taking a run round the block. After about five minutes they were wandering around the town, just getting a feel for the town.

"So how you feeling teenager?" Tony asked.

"Not that different. But then we don't have a typical upbringing so we can already do most things teen are still waiting to do. Like drive."

"Shoot a gun." Tony put in.

"Walk around town by ourselves." Sam offered.

"Most parents are protective of their kids from other people, thinking the danger lies in other humans." Dean argued.

"Yeah but it does." Tony said.

"I know that, but we are always on the lookout for the monsters that hide in the dark, that hardly anyone can see. But we always know they are there."

"Dean, what are you saying?"

"I'm 13 today Tony, and I already know what I'm gonna be for the rest of my life." Dean said quietly. "A hunter. That is all I'm good for. Protecting people from things that don't even know about. Never thanked, never appreciated, never known. That's me."

"Dean, you are not gonna be a hunter for the rest of your life. You can be anything you want. Like you said, you're 13, you don't have to save everyone." Tony replied.

Sam who had been quiet this whole time, piped up in agreement. "I'm not."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to hunt for the rest of my life. I want a house, one like that." The brothers stopped on the sidewalk and looked at the house Sam was pointing to. A typical, four bedroomed house perfect for the All-American family. "No monsters, no travelling. Just a regular life."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with being normal, like everyone else Dean." Sam said seriously before plodding along the pathway.

Tony and Dean lagged behind and continued talking quietly. "He's right you know, we will find this demon Dean. Dad will hunt him down and you will get him back for what he did to your mother. I know that Dad didn't want this life for you and I'm guessing neither did Mary, so when Yellow Eyes is dust, promise me you will leave the hunting behind."

"T..."

"Dean, we deserve it."

"Fine, I promise." Dean said, after a long and silent minute of the older boys staring each other down.

"Great, now let's see if we can find our way back to the motel, I wanna know what Sammy got you." Tony said, running up behind his youngest brother. Sam glanced back and saw him coming though and took off.

"Oh you'd better run Sammy boy!" Tony cried. Dean laughed and followed after them.

"Catch me if you can, T!" Sam called back.

SSSSSSSSSS

A few hours later the boys were back at the motel, playing the card game Uno. Whilst John had taught Tony and Dean how to play Poker a few years previously, Sam had played Uno at a few of his schools and had come to enjoy it very much. So with some money he had saved up, he bought it for Dean for his birthday and right now the brothers were having a lot of fun playing.

"Great present, Sammy." Dean agreed as he lost another game but with a smile on his face.

"No problem." Sam said, smiling at his older brother. After their serious talk earlier through town, he was glad to see Dean happy on his birthday.

After they had got back, they had spent time quietly reading about the case they would be helping on later. And then they had softly spoken about what would happen. After all this would be Sam's first hunting job.

He had been going through training with John, Tony and Dean but tonight would be the real thing. That was John's birthday present to Dean, who had insisted that Sam join them at last and finally get a feel for what they were doing. Dean insisted that they partner up and that Sam was to stick by his side.

Since he was a very bright boy, it hadn't taken long for Sam to understand their battle plans and defenses against the creatures they fought. He had already memorised the list of ways to repel a ghost and other monsters, studying John's journal over the past month. Now that he knew about the family secret, John had let him read the journal to get a better understanding.

Tony and Dean were amazed at how fast he was reading it. They both tried but could hardly decipher John's scribbles on the pages and only read it if they had to.

After a couple of hours, John had woken up and was pleased to find the boys all clued up on the job. While he was showering, the boys had finally been able to play Uno as Sam knew it would get competitive and raucous, especially with the three of them, so they waited till John was awake.

"What are you three making so much noise about?" He asked, finally feeling fresh and clean from the shower and found the boys playing with some colorful cards and laughing about on the floor.

"UNO!" Tony cried, in response to John's question and winning the game. "Dean's present from Sammy."

"And it's really fun, some kid brought it into my last school and we played at lunch." Sam said happily.

"Looks fun." John said. "So what else have you been up to for your birthday, Dean?"

"We had a breakfast feast at the diner across the street," Tony started.

"I think the waitress liked you, she brought loads of food and let us have it cheap." Sam put in.

John smirked at Tony and Dean, knowing they were both starting to show an interest in girls. For a while now he had wondered how they would work out having girlfriends with them living on the road.

"Yeah, so that was breakfast. Then we just walked round town and hung out with each other. Then when we got back here, we all got clued up on the hunt." Dean finished.

"So you all ready for it?" John asked.

All three boys nodded, and recited the details of the case to John.

"That's good work boys, you ready for your first hunt Sammy?" John questioned.

"Yep, I'm gonna stick close, watch and do what Dean says." Sam said seriously, once again putting all of his faith and belief in his older brother.

And John was once again struck by his sons. He knew he relied on Tony and Dean to help out with Sam, more than he probably should. But most of the time it seemed like Dean wanted to be the one to take care of the family, John often forgot he was only a kid or a teenager now. It was moments like that when he saw how close Sam, Dean and Tony were, more than most brothers and a lot of the time he felt like an outsider with them.

He loved his children, he truly did and yes that included Tony, and he wanted to protect them so much but he honestly didn't know how. This was when he really missed Mary the most, she would know what to do and how to keep the boys safe from harm. This was when he knew the boys needed a mother.

John nodded at Sam's response and smiled sadly at the three of them. Tony noticed this and thought maybe it was Kansas affecting him. He had thought John would be angry about coming back here, that was how he had played it but seeing him Tony wondered if he was more upset and sad about it than he let on. That would be typical John Winchester behavior.

Before he could question it though, John stood up suddenly. "How about some dinner then? I wanna try that diner you boys seem to love so much."

"It is really good, Dad." Sam said, standing up with his father already heading for the door.

"OK, sounds like a plan." Dean said, noticing it was coming up to 6 o'clock. Getting food then getting the poltergeist did sound like a good plan actually.

"Let's go then, boys." John said, leading them out the door and locking up the home for the night.

Not five minutes later they were at the diner again, in the same seat as before sadly Tony and Dean noticed their morning waitress was no longer there. "Probably has the night off." Tony murmured to Dean, as a young High School boy led them to the table.

"I think I'm...gonna have the um...double cheeseburger," Sam declared happily, after looking at the Dinner menu.

"Don't you want something a little...healthier." John suggested.

"Nope, that is what I want," Sam tapped the menu determinedly and gave his father the Sam-Puppy-Eyes.

And as usual, John gave in. "Fine, slab of heart-stopping meat for Sammy, what about you guys."

"I'm liking the sound of the taco special." Tony said. "A diner. In Kansas. Cooking Mexican food. That I have got to try."

"Me too, except I'll have the Quesadilla." Dean decided.

"Great." John said, deciding to take the light and easy option of a BLT.

The boys relayed their orders when their waiter came back and also ordered a lot of coffee, readying themselves for the long night ahead of them.

It didn't take them long to get through dinner and back to the motel room. After a quick weapons check and going over the plan a final time, John loaded them all into the family's Fifth member, the Impala. Just as he had felt when he first took Dean and Tony on their first hunt, John felt the nerves and trepidation kicking in. He knew Sam was well versed in the supernatural now and Dean wouldn't let anything happen to him, but he was once again wondering if this was right. 8 year-olds shouldn't be doing this, they should be tucked up in bed. But John could only argue that he was doing this to keep the boys safe when they were older, as he wouldn't always be there. And because they were doing this, other 8 year-olds would be safe in their beds tonight.

Of course that didn't do much to alleviate the tension or guilt he felt. As he pulled up in front of the house, which had stood empty for a week now while the family stayed with friends, John closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then ordered the boys out the car.

SNSNSNSNSN

Just as the sun was coming up, the Winchester family were arriving back at their motel. The first thing John did was call the family to tell them their home was safe now. Tony went into the bathroom to take care of some injuries he had sustained with Dean trailing after him to help, while Sam fell onto one of the beds and mindful of his own bruises, quickly fell asleep.

He fell into such a deep sleep, he didn't hear John's phone call and then his subsequent one to Bobby to bitch about the job. He also didn't hear Tony cursing as Dean applied Iodine to some cuts on his back and then helped him set a dislocated finger. Just another day for the Winchester family.

As John removed Sam's shoes and tucked him in, Tony and Dean climbed into the other bed. Recently they had been complaining to John that they were getting too old to share a bed, but he didn't want to waste money on two rooms. Some of the motels provided camp beds which Sam usually took, but more often than not the boys just had to put up with it. Right now was one of those times when the boys were just too tired and beat to care so they fell asleep without argument.

John got himself cleaned up quick then lay down next to Sam, but his mind wouldn't let him rest. The job had been...interesting, to say the least.

The boys had found out that the house was only 10 years old, it had been rebuilt after the old house had burned to the ground, nothing but ashes left. The only victim was a 7 year-old girl, after she died in the fire her mother couldn't handle the grief and killed herself on the burnt grounds. But her spirit had remained, not content with letting others live peacefully in the house that had been her former home. After a string of families quickly leaving the house, the Hendersons had moved in including their 7 year-old daughter. That was when the spirit had gone crazy, and things had escalated very quickly. Fires starting in the house, visitors getting attacked by thin air, items being thrown about.

Eventually the story had led back to Bobby and then John, who had got in contact with Missouri Moseley, his former psychic who kept an eye on things in Lawrence, she gave him the instructions on what to do to cleanse the house and wished him luck.

Thankfully John had excellent partners with him. John and Tony had taken care of planting the protection bags in the Northern and Eastern points of the house, while Dean took care of the Western and Southern points while Sam kept an eye out, shotgun at the ready.

Dean had a quick flashback to his and Tony's first job, as they stood outside in the cold, dark night as John dug a grave, both of them with their shotguns leveled, eager to help. Instantly Dean knew Sam would never be able to leave this life behind, he was too good and too knowledgable about it already. He looked away before grabbing the hammer and punching a hole in the wall, burying the magic ingredients. That was when the poltergeist appeared, slamming the Kitchen door shut, locking the boys inside the room.

"Oh no," Dean had cried. "Dammit! DAD! She's here, in the Kitchen!" He yelled, while picking his own gun up. Just then the spirit had appeared, right in front of Sam's eyes, and he stood still for a moment. Dean thought he had frozen up, instead though Sam was simply taking it in before firing a shot off. As soon as the spirit left them, John and Tony had begun pounding on the door. Dean didn't know how but somehow between the pair of them, they managed to break the door down probably due to the poltergeist being weak after Sam's attack.

John quickly appraised the boys, then fired off another shot as the spirit appeared behind them. Before anyone could blink though, Tony slammed to the floor and was quickly dragged through the room, and towards the closed window of the front room.

"Oh my god," Dean murmured, chasing after his brother. John grabbed Sam then quickly finished the spell, ensuring the poltergeist was gone forever and the house was safe, mere seconds before Tony was shot through the glass pane.

"Oh thank God," Tony cried breathlessly, after realising he was safe.

"Not God. Dad." Dean stated, grinning at his brother and helping him up.

As John played the night or morning back in his head, many thoughts were going through his head. The usual guilt and love for his sons, as well as a small sense of pride. Before he could think too hard though, he forced his mind off and let himself rest, just like his boys were doing.

Yep, just another day for the Winchester family.


	9. Chapter 9 Family Portrait

OK, so here is another chapter. Again I apologize for another late update, but to make it up another longer chapter. I was actually surprised at that, I didn't expect this chapter to be this long but I just kept adding to it. And since I always use ghosts and demons as the monsters since they are the easiest to write about, I went with something different. I also may have taken a few liberties with the injuries and New York (I've never been there) and I apologize for that, but still onto the story.

Disclaimer- As I've mentioned before, Supernatural and NCIS do not belong, sadly that has not changed since the last chapter.

Chapter 9- Family Portrait

New York, New York, USA- 30th March 1993

New York City. Tony was only vaguely familiar with it, since had spent the first 6 years of his life on Long Island. He had gone into the City many times with his parents, before he met the Winchesters but that was nearly 8 years ago. However he had never gone there with the Winchesters, John didn't mind cities but he hated New York, so unless it was absolutely dire that he went he avoided it like the plague. The boys also suspected it might be because he didn't want anyone to recognize Tony.

So whenever John went, the boys would usually stay with Bobby or Pastor Jim. This time however John desperately needed help in getting rid of a vampire nest. At 14, Tony and Dean were finally allowed to tag along on their first vampire hunt. Sam wanted to go as well but John said he was still too young, so for now he was stuck on research, not that he minded much. Even though he had been hunting with them for over a year now, he was still only familiar with ghosts and demons which he had found out were the most regular occurrences on hunts. Vampires were a rarity.

Sam also wanted to go sightseeing in New York. So John had relented and while he came up with a plan on the vampires and destroying the nest, he allowed the kids a day of freedom. As John tried to find a way to get dead man's blood, Sam insisted on going to the top of the Empire State Building.

"Jeez Sammy, what is with you and going right to the top?" Dean grumbled as the elevator rode swiftly to the tower. Dean didn't want to let on but he felt a little uneasy about looking over NYC so high up.

"You all right Dean?" Tony asked, smirking at his younger brother.

"I'm fine," Dean insisted, glaring at Tony. Thankfully Sam was too busy bouncing on his feet to notice his brothers. Tony knew Dean was afraid of flying and suspected that included very high buildings, like the Empire State.

"So where are we going after Sammy?" Tony asked.

"Central Park, you ever been there T?" Sam asked, looking earnestly at his oldest brother.

Tony nodded before smiling thoughtfully. "Yeah, I went there. For my fifth birthday, one of the few times I spent the whole day with both my parents. We went to the Zoo, had a picnic and just spent the whole day relaxing in the sun. My mother was happy, my father didn't mention the office once. Then for dinner we went to the Four Seasons."

"Oh can we go there?" Sam asked excitedly.

"Ha!" Dean barked out. "We should be so lucky, Sammy."

"Why?"

"Sammy, the Four Seasons is a very fancy, very expensive hotel with an equally expensive restaurant. One dinner there would probably cost about six months of motels and meals for us." Tony explained with a smile. "Don't worry I know of some cheaper places to eat that even Dad will enjoy."

The boys smiled at each other as they finally reached the top, and stumbled out of the elevator.

"Well here it is Sammy, New York City."

"Wow!" Sam said as they stepped out onto the Observatory Deck. While Dean stayed close to the door and took cursory glances to admire the view, Tony and Sam went as close to the edge as they were allowed with Tony pointing to all the boroughs and other landmarks.

"So can we go back onto the Ground Floor now?" Dean asked anxiously.

"Just one quick picture," Sam pleaded pulling out his cheap but loyal camera.

"Fine, go ahead." Dean relented.

"No you have to be in it as well, Dean." Tony ordered.

"Yeah, family photo of the Winchester kids." Sam cheered.

"Someone has to take the photo."

Tony smiled and then turned to the elderly woman next to them. "Excuse me Ma'am, would you please take a picture of me and my brothers, we'd really love one of all three of us."

"Of course I will, oh aren't you handsome boys. Bet your parents are always running round after you three." She commented with a smile before taking Sam's camera.

"Thank you, so much." Tony said flashing his famous grin, which he knew could bring nearly everyone to their knees.

"OK, go stand at the edge so I can get the city in behind you."

"Great idea." Sam said, pulling on the reluctant Dean's arm. Tony grabbed Dean's other arm.

"Not too close, don't want to put our backs to the edge and walk off." Dean said quietly.

"You're fine, we both have you." Tony whispered with a confident smile.

"OK boys, give me a big heartbreaking smile each." The woman called over to them. The brothers did as they were told as the woman complied with their wish. "Oh that was wonderful, hope you get some more photos of the city. Have fun boys and stay safe."

"Thanks," Dean said as he scrambled for the door.

"Thank you Ma'am," Tony said following after his brother.

"Thanks." Sam said, taking his camera back and following the older two.

SNSNSNSNSN

By the time the boys returned to their cheap and moderately clean hotel right in the heart of the city, they had been to Central Park, Times Square and then spent the afternoon in Coney Island.

"That was so much fun," Sam cried entering the room and regaling John with their tales of New York.

"Funny how you're scared of flying and going to the top of the Empire State Building yet you were completely fine on the roller coaster." Tony whispered to Dean smirking.

"Yeah well roller coasters go up and down so there...was no problem." Dean stumbled, not letting on to the fact that he had been scared of the violent ride.

"Then why did you look a little green afterwards?" Tony asked.

"I said I was fine not over the moon about them." Dean protested.

"You two enjoy your day in the city?" John asked, approaching the older boys.

"Yeah, good times." Dean grumbled heading for the bathroom.

"He's just not feeling well." Tony grinned. "But I had a good time, some things were familiar. Good to see the city again."

"I'm glad you're happy to be back home." John said.

"Hey the Impala's my home now, but I don't mind New York." Tony smiled. "But you don't have to worry just yet, I'm not leaving you."

"So you ready for tonight?" John asked seriously.

"I've been ready for three weeks now. You get the-" Tony glanced over at Sam and lowered his voice. "You get what you needed?"

"Yeah, couple of moments I nearly got caught but I got it."

Tony nodded before settling onto the bed to rest before the big night ahead of them. Dean finished cleaning up and also got some much needed sleep.

SNSNSNSNSN

Tony woke up to one his favourite dinners. "Hey who got Pizza without asking me?"

"Don't worry Sleeping Beauty, we saved yours. Pepperoni, Sausage and Extra Cheese." Dean said, handing his older brother his dinner.

"Cheers Dean-O." Tony said gratefully, quickly polishing off his half pie. "Aah, I admit that is one thing I have missed about New York, you can't beat their pizza."

"What about that one in Chicago we had?" Sam asked, still eating his slice.

"Yeah it was good, second best." Tony argued, adamant he would not be beaten on this point.

"Whatever T," Dean said as he began cleaning up.

In no time, Tony and Dean were all washed up, dressed and packing the Impala up for the hunt, while Sam was watching TV from his bed but listening intently to the instructions John was giving him.

"Remember, if Bobby or Pastor Jim call, they will call once with two rings then call back in one minute so you know it's them. Don't open the door to anyone and if anyone or anything comes in here what do you do?"

"Shoot first, ask questions later." Sam recited, having heard this numerous times now. It wasn't often Sam was left alone in the motel room especially after the Shtriga incident that the whole family would like to just forget about and Sam didn't even remember. However since this was a special hunt, Sam would be by himself probably until morning. John knew he could trust the boy to look after himself and behave, he was more worried about something coming after him.

"What about anything that could get inside another way?" Sam asked quietly.

"What do you mean Sam?" John asked frowning.

"Well you always said it wasn't real, but now that I know monsters do exist, what if there is one, you know, in there..." Sam said pointing to the hotel closet on the far side of the room.

"You think there might be a monster in the closet?"

Sam nodded, not understanding why John didn't believe him. The man hunted monsters after all.

"Then just use this." John said, handing Sam a .45 piece.

"Se-seriously Dad?"

"Works a treat." John said, smiling a little. "You'll be fine Sam. Be good, and remember to actually sleep. I love you, kid."

"Love you too, Dad. Good luck and watch out for T and D."

John smiled as he left the room, Sam waving him goodbye.

"You two ready for this?" John asked his older sons who were waiting patiently in the car for him. That should have told him something, the only times those two were patient was when they were nervous.

"Yep, just fine." Tony said, his voice wavering.

"Let's go Dad." Dean said, his own voice betraying his confidence.

"OK then." John put the car in drive and headed for Central Park, thankful that at 11:00 at night the traffic wasn't too heavy. This way they could get there in no time and they wouldn't be easily seen. But then a thought struck him, how busy was the park gonna be at this time of night? The vampires obviously chose it for a reason, maybe because it was easy hunting ground for them.

But John didn't have to worry too much, when they parked the Impala in a secluded spot in Central Park close to the nest, there wasn't anyone else about.

"OK boys, it's just a couple of minutes down that path. Just remember what I've taught you and look sharp." John instructed before leading the boys down a darkened pathway. As they wandered through the park, Tony couldn't help but recall all the times he'd heard in his city visits how no one should be walking through the Park at night by themselves. Now he could see why. Hell, he was a seasoned hunter with his father and brother and yet he was still a little scared of the pitch black forest. This wasn't any part of the Park he had been to before, that was for sure.

Bringing up the rear, Dean was continuously looking over his shoulder convinced he had heard something behind them. He didn't know why he was nervous as well, but he was. And this wasn't even the boys first hunt in the woods, the year before they had been with John on a Wendigo hunt in the Chippewa National Forest over in Minnesota, that had been terrorizing as well.

Eventually they made it to an abandoned tomb that John had found the vampires were using as their home. "OK you boys ready?" John asked his sons. Tony and Dean nodded and proceeded to go ahead with their plan.

Tony pushed the wooden door open and rushed in with Dean following behind him. "See I told you, this is the perfect place." Tony cried loudly, hoping to attract the attention of the vampires as part of the Winchester plan.

"I don't know Bobby," Dean said, using a code name. "What if someone finds us here?"

"They won't Jimmy, who's gonna look out here? You saw the path, no one has walked along that thing in years." Tony replied, getting into the part. Dean wasn't surprised with all the movies Tony constantly watched. He was definitely the family's actor.

"Maybe this wasn't a great idea. Running away, I mean?"

"Oh fine then. You wanna go home, go ahead. Run back to your fucked up family, I'm getting out the city first thing in the morning."

"You sure about that boy?" Another voice asked from the shadows.

"What the- Who's there?" Tony asked, shining the flashlight around the cement room.

"Dammit Bobby! There's someone here, the police will find us for sure."

"Oh I wouldn't count on that fellas." And just then Tony's flashlight fell onto the voice, a 30-something man with a leather jacket. 'Typical,' Tony thought. 'What is it with vampires and leather, I swear they're worse than hunters.'

"Who are you?" Dean asked, as the vampire stepped closer to them.

"Someone who was here first, and since you boys came into our home...I think we should get a little something from you." And then suddenly the boys found themselves surrounded by five other vampires all looking at them hungrily.

"You stay away from us. We'll leave, you can have this place. Alright? Come on Jimmy." Tony said, tugging Dean away. But the vampires closed ranks and kept the boys in the middle of the circle.

"Oh no, sweetie," said one of the female creatures, stroking Tony's face. "You're not going anywhere."

"I have a gun, you do anything. I will shoot." Dean cried out, pointing it at the leader.

"Hah, I'll tell you a secret boy. That won't do anything to me."

Dean leveled his eyes and fired right into the vampire's heart, but as he predicated the monster merely flinched before standing up straighter. "I told you."

"Just wait, it takes about a minute for dead man's blood to work."

And despite the life threatening situation they were in, Tony suddenly wished he had a camera so he could take a picture of the moment all the smirks dropped of the vampires faces.

But his thoughts were broken as the vampires all bared the teeth and came even closer, Tony and Dean both hit the ground as John stood behind two vampires and sliced their heads off in one clean blow. Three down, three to go. One for each hunter.

Tony was dragged across the room by the female vampire and yet he managed to pull his own gun out, however the monster had seen this and deftly kicked out of Tony's hands. "Now, now that isn't very nice." She sneered down at him. As she leaned in closer, Tony pulled out a syringe with Dead Man's blood and stabbed it right into her neck. While she fell to the floor in pain, Tony scrambled away and grabbed his gun before popping a shot right between her eyes.

Over on the other side of the tomb, he could see John grappling with another vampire but knew he could handle himself. Dean on the other hand seemed to be in the same situation as him, his gun out of his hands. Just as a male vampire descended upon his brother Tony was impressed to see Dean pull out his lighter and a can of lighter fluid before spraying the vampire with the flames. True it wouldn't kill him or be too painful but it would certainly distract him.

And that was all it took for Tony to sneak up behind the screaming, burning vampire and take a swing at his neck with the axe. Of course being only 14, Tony didn't have enough strength to actually take the vampire's head off, but good enough to stop the vampire, who now lay motionless on the floor.

"Dude that was awesome!" Tony said, giving Dean a hand to pull him up. He noticed John had also defeated his monster and was making quick work of decapitating all the vampires to make sure they were dead. Removing the heads was the only sure way to kill a vampire, Tony knew.

"Thanks bro, you too. Though it seems like you're not lifting enough weights." Dean teased, looking at the creature on the ground whose head was still partially attached.

"I've got it boys, you go gather the weapons and wait outside for me." John instructed.

"Sure dad, you OK?"

"Yep, couple of scratches but nothing a little iodine won't take care of. You boys get hurt?"

"Nope, nothing major." Tony replied.

"I think I'm gonna have a shiner on my eye in the morning. Damn bullies." Dean said, already coming up with an alibi for any nosey strangers.

SNSNSNSNSN

A few hours alter, the Winchester family had gotten all the rest they needed and were cleaned up. After the adrenaline had worn off though, John noticed he had a little trouble breathing, and after Sam checked through the family's medical book it was confirmed John had a cracked rib.

"Dammit, does that mean I'm going to hospital Sammy?" John asked, lying dow gently on the bed.

"Nope, I think you have a simple, clean break. So you just have to rest, not move around too much and take some painkillers." Sam reported.

"Fine, sounds good." John said, breathing shallow. Damn, his chest did hurt something awful. "Could you boys run to the store for me then and on the way back tell the manager I'll need to book the room for another week."

"Really? A whole week."

"Yes," John said rolling his eyes. "You boys get another week to do all the touristy crap, and anything else you like in New York City. Make the most of it, I won't be coming back for a long time."

The boys laughed and happily left the room, letting their father get some rest.

SNSNSNSNSN

A week later, the Winchester family had packed up and while John wasn't anywhere near ready to be hunting again, he wanted to leave the city. The plan was to leave at night so Tony could drive them out, since John wasn't in any shape to drive. Tony and Dean would swap driving until they reach Bobby's where they could stay for a few more weeks while John healed properly.

Being a friend to many hunters, Bobby was used to seeing broken and fractured bones, and had cursed at the elder Winchester until John promised he would get to South Dakota as soon as he could.

So while John returned the motel key to the front desk, the boys waited in the car, all cramped together in the front bench, leaving the backseat for John to stretch out on, as much as could anyway.

"It's weird." Sam stated suddenly.

"What is Sammy? You're personality, no surprise there but it's good you can finally admit it." Dean teased.

"Funny Dean," Sam replied dryly, while Tony smirked at them both. "I mean, you have all these people here just living their lives in this city, just like in the small towns we go to. Everywhere we go, it's all the same. Anyone who passes us on the street, probably thinks we live in one of these apartments here and live just like they do."

Tony swallowed hard and looked at Dean. This was another realization they had both had a few years before. Finally understanding how different the Winchester family was. "Sammy, we are a family but yes we are different. I bet you though there are families just like us. You've seen other kids at the motels, other kids at schools who just leave one day and move away."

"Yeah but those kids are living there because their parents lost their jobs, or are on the run from abusive parents and there are families do just move around a lot but they always live in houses. Like that kid at my last school, his father was in the army like Dad used to be. So his family was always moving someplace new after a year or so." Sam sighed heavily. "I don't think there's any other families chasing a demon for revenge."

"Probably not." Tony replied quietly. "Sam, it doesn't matter how we live. We're eating, laughing, breathing just like everyone else does. We have each other, so we are a family."

John slowly came out of the hotel reception and climbed into the car.

"OK, all ready?" He asked, as he got mildly comfortable

"Yep, let's hit the road." Sam cried.

"On to Sioux Falls, home of one Mr Robert Singer." Tony cheered.

John smiled to himself as the family quickly left the car park, eager to put New York City in the Impala's rearview mirror.

Sam smiled as he looked back at his Dad in the backseat of the Impala. The road passing him by out the window, probably the most common view of his childhood, this time though his eyes were staring at the photo of the three of them standing before New York City. Three boys with dark hair, bright eyes and matching grins, yeah strange as they were, they were definitely a family. The Winchester boys.


	10. Chapter 10 A Week In the Life

So here we have another chapter, and I apologize again for the long delay between chapters. This one started off completely different to how it is now, it also ended up longer than I intended. So here you have, I believe my longest chapter to date. Thanks as always for your encouraging and lovely reviews, I'm glad you're still with the story though it's taking longer that I thought.

Just to warn you it is coming near the end, just a couple more chapters after this one, but don't worry I'm already working on them.

Disclaimer- Do I really need to say it? Ok then, they are NOT mine!

Chapter 10- A Week In the Life

November 1994- Lake Crystal, Minnesota, USA

Monday

John

It was one of those rare times. The Winchester family didn't have a hunt or a job to work on. So the boys were in school, had been for a month now. John was happy to settle down for a short time for the boys, it gave them a sense of normalcy that he knew they deserved. They had just stopped in town after a long drive and were only intending to stay for the night but after some talking and John admitting he had no current direction of where they were going, the family decided to wait it out till John got a call to go hunting.

Of course if he had known they were going to stay here then he might have driven a bit further south, because now here they were in Minnesota in November. Most days they were lucky if the temperatures hovered around 0 degrees. The boys had broken out their snow clothes from all the times they had stayed with Bobby at winter and bundled up as they played about town. John had to admit it had been fun, just a few days before the whole family had been walking back from the local supermarket and abandoned their shopping on a bench to have a quick snowball fight. Sam and Tony were still arguing over who had actually won but John was happy to see smiles on their faces.

So while his sons were at school, John was currently in their motel room not sure what to do. He had napped and exercised, made a few calls seeing if any of his fellow hunters had heard anything about the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Most hunters in America knew the Winchester's main target was the YED and always kept their ears open for news about him and passed any info onto them.

Then he grabbed some lunch and summarised that they needed to go shopping again. Tony had recently gone through a major growth spurt, now that he was 16 John wasn't surprised but it did mean the family's food bills were sky high now, especially since Sam was into his hunter training and ate like one too.

After eating a quick meal, John realised he still had a couple of hours before he had to pick up the boys, so he did something he rarely did. Sat down and watched TV. The boys watched it of course, Tony loved his movies, Sam preferred documentaries while Dean was devoted to sports. John usually watched for a few minutes with them or listened when it was on in the background, but he hardly ever watched it for a long time. And he never got to pick what he wanted. So now he indulged in some well deserved channel surfing.

Tuesday

Sam

Behind him, Sam heard someone sigh heavily. He rolled his eyes before casting them down to his own paper. Just a couple more questions and he was finished. The kid behind him, gave another sigh, obviously having trouble with his test. Sam knew the kid, had already been paired up with him for a project the week before and knew he wasn't the brightest kid in class. Sam had completed both parts of the project in two days and gave Jimmy the notes he needed, Sam had breezed through it, not really thinking about the work he was doing.

That was one of the problems with going to public school, even though they travelled all over the country and went to numerous schools for varied amounts of time, Sam didn't have any trouble keeping up with the work. Most of the curriculums were similar, sometimes he had to catch up or redo some work but Sam easily got through it.

So usually he just stayed quiet and carried a book with him, quietly reading it in class when he had finished his work. The teachers didn't mind since he never made a fuss, that was of course part of his plan. It had been drummed into his head as a kid that the Winchester family couldn't bring any unwanted attention to themselves, so no clubs, no roles in the school play, no close friends. Only when Sam found out about the demons and hunting he understood why.

Didn't mean he had to like though. Just once he wanted to join the Debate team or attend a kid's birthday party, hell even taking part in a Basketball game or running track. But no, nothing. He knew Tony had trouble with it since he loved sports. That was how Sam was so knowledgable about all sports known to man, because he and Dean were Tony's only loyal teammates. Sometimes Tony played a game with other kids in the neighbourhood or from school but he was of course forbidden from joining any teams.

Dean didn't seem to mind, he didn't bother trying too hard with his schoolwork, since he knew he was gonna be a hunter, and he wasn't that interested in sports. Sure, he enjoyed playing them once in a while and kept up with the major leagues, but he didn't want to play and train every day.

Finally though Sam was torn out of his thoughts by the bell signaling the end of the school day. Sam gathered his things and put his test on the teacher's desk, and quickly rushed out of the school. Being only 11, he was still in Middle school while his older brothers were in High School. So John came to get Sam first then they drove over to the town's only High school nearby, not that Tony and Dean were that bothered about waiting. The past couple of years, they had come to discover girls, and Sam had discovered both of his brothers were charming flirts. On many occasions in the various towns they stayed in, it wasn't uncommon for the boys to go to dinner and Sam be left alone at the table while Tony and Dean either charmed the waitress or a group of giggly girls they knew from school.

The worst was when Tony had picked Sam up from another kid's house when Sam had been helping George with his homework, the two younger kids had found Tony and George's older sister making out in the backseat of the Impala. Sam had been mortified especially when George had told everyone at school and everyone avoided Sam quickly after that, still being young enough to worry about 'cooties'.

Sam quickly found his family's car in the parking lot and bounded over to it, slightly slipping on the icy path before banging into the car.

"Damnit Sammy, careful with the car!" John yelled as Sam climbed in.

"Sorry Dad, just wanted see you." Sam said sweetly, looking at his dad with the puppy eyes. John just shook his head and started the car up. He always took care of the Impala in states like this, the car could definitely handle the winter but she sure didn't like them.

"Bad day at school?" John asked.

"Nah, just boring. Easy work," Sam sighed, now sounding like Jimmy.

"That's good."

"I guess, sometimes it's good to be challenged though." Sam said quietly, staring out the window.

Wednesday

Tony

"I just don't see what the big deal is," Tony shouted. Dean and Sam looked at each other before heading for the car. They had gone to the corner market to grab some bread and to escape for the argument Tony and John were having. But it seemed in the 15 minutes they had been gone, the tempers had escalated. So they escaped to the car to wait it out, not wanting to stand in the snowy car park of the motel.

Tony had chatted with a few boys in his Gym class about Ice Hockey and the upcoming game on Friday, when he had confessed he had played a few Ice Hockey games over the years. The boys had jumped at the chance and begged him to help them out. One of their players was out sick and they needed someone to cover, even if Tony just skated in the background and blocked other players, that would work. Since their last period was Study Hall, they had dragged Tony to the school's rink and got a quick game going. They had discovered very quickly, that Tony had a natural talent for Ice Hockey and once again the begging had begun. Tony said he would have to ask his father, which is what he was currently doing.

And it was not going well.

"Dammit Tony, how many times do I have to explain it?" John cried back as stood up to face his eldest son. "This is to keep us safe."

"It's just one game! I'm not gonna join the team, they just need another player because someone else is sick."

"Yes you said that but what if this kid is out for another week and then you have to help again. And another game, and another. And then when we leave people will get suspicious. Tony, you know we have to lie low."

"I didn't ask to!" Tony bellowed before silence ran over the room. He took a deep breath, noticing the hurt in John's eyes and knew his own were filled with regret. It wasn't something he often talked about but he and John had discussed it a few times. "I love this family with all my heart. You, Dean and Sammy, you might not be the most normal family and the best at talking about how we feel, but I know you guys love me too."

"Of course we do Tony," John said softly.

"And I am eternally grateful that you took me in and I don't regret my decision to become a Winchester. But there are times when I wish it could be different. I know you do too, you didn't want us to grow up like this. You probably never imagined it would take this long to get revenge. But here we are. And I just want to do this one thing. I'm honestly not that bothered about being normal, I mean what is normal really. Everyone's different, so in that sense I am like every other kid at school." Tony sighed again before sitting on his bed. "It's just I love sports so much and playing in one game would mean so much to me, so when I'm older and talking about high school I can say, yeah I played in a team. They won't have to know it was just one game, but still I can honestly say I played for my school."

"I don't know Tony. I do know how much you boys have given up for me, and I know it isn't easy to see what the other kids do and you boys hardly ever complain, but I'm doing this to keep you safe." John explained. "Let me think about it."

"Fine," Tony grumbled, knowing John would get back to him on Friday morning with a clear denial of his request and then stake out the school to march Tony back to the motel room on Friday night.

"Go tell the others to get back in here, I'm desperate for a sandwich." John ordered heading to the bathroom. Tony let himself smile as he went to the door and gestured for Dean and Sam to come back.

"All clear on the Northern front?" Dean joked.

"For now."

"You gonna play?"

"Undecided."

"Shit man, I'm sorry. I might have had a chance with the Head Cheerleader too, my brother being the big hockey star." Dean grinned.

"Shut up," Tony said slugging Dean on the arm.

"Abuse! Abuse!" Dean said rounding on the table. "I guess Tony doesn't want any dinner."

"Quiet you two, you don't want to be shouting that out round here." John ordered sitting at the family's meagre motel dining table.

"Yeah dumbass." Sam grumbled, still a little cold from camping out in the Impala for 20 minutes.

"Well aren't we just the All American family." Tony joked. And just like that, before they even knew why, the family were chuckling and settling down to their snacks.

Thursday

Dean

Dean yawned from the back of his Math class and was met with a disapproving glare from his teacher. "Are we disturbing your beauty sleep Mr Pierce?" Once again John had decided a fake surname might be for the best in this town.

"Not at all, way more interested in the Math all around me." Dean snarked back with a smile, not one his teacher appreciated though. The girl sitting next to him seemed to like it though as she grinned shyly at him.

"You're funny." She whispered after a few more minutes of their teacher droning on.

"Thanks, one of my many talents." Dean replied smirking at her.

Before they talk anymore though the bell rang and everyone started gathering up their things. "Well give me a call, I'd like to find out what else you're good at." She said, dropping a piece of paper on top of Dean's books.

"Oh I will," Dean said quietly, watching the girl walk away. He had seen her around school and in some of his other classes but thought she was way out of his league, that was until she spoke to him.

"Class is over Mr Pierce," his teacher called out when Dean realised he was the only student left in the room.

"Right, on my way Sir." He said, spitting the last word out. As he made he began making his way to the cafeteria, Tony suddenly spun him round and started dragging him towards the exit.

"Not that way today lil bro," Tony ordered as Dean began arguing, hoping to chase after the girl.

"What? Why not?" Dean said, knowing his arguments were futile.

"The hockey team are trying to corner me, if I go into the cafeteria I might as well have a target on me."

"You haven't explained it to them yet?"

"NO! And I know if I say Dad is thinking about it, they will probably want to speak to him themselves. I just have to avoid them today. So we are getting lunch off campus," Tony said happily, pushing Dean out into the minus freezing wind.

"Dude! We are not allowed and you are crazy if you wanna walk anywhere in this weather." Dean said, sipping his coat up frantically and pulling his hood on.

"Actually we are allowed to leave campus, just you're right you'd have to be mad to leave in this weather. I thought that's exactly what us Winchesters were." Tony grinned again, as he started pushing Dean down the path. "We're only going across the road to Weggy's."

"That's a bar."

"Bar/Restaurant." Tony corrected, "we'll be allowed to eat in there."

"Fine." Dean grumbled. "But if Dad or the school finds out, you're explaining."

The both got to the restaurant in question and pushed the door. After some charming and finagling from Tony, they were led to a table and both quickly got the Chicken Lunch special. In no time at all, they were wolfing it down and walking back to school before they knew it.

Tony who had study hall last period, decided to hide out in the Library and finish his homework. Dean on the on the other hand headed for his English class where he saw his new crush entering the room before him. "Hey wait up. What's your name?" He asked, leaning against the wall, thankfully the still had a few minutes before class started.

"Why?"

"Well you think I'm funny, seem interested in me. So how about your name for your pretty face?" Dean said.

"Emma." She smiled. "That's all your getting."

"Fine then, I'm Dean."

"So you going to the hockey game tomorrow?" She asked twirling her hair.

"Wasn't planning to. You wanna go? I will if you want to, then maybe we can get something to eat afterwards. To either celebrate or commiserate about the game."

"Sounds good. I always go to the games, I'm not that bothered about it. Family obligation though, my cousin is the team captain." She explained sweetly.

"Yeah I know all about families." Dean mumbled. From her frown he continued. "I've got an older and a younger brother, seems like I'm always looking out for both of them."

"Really?"

"Yeah, Sammy's younger and he's probably got the most sense in the family, but he's still just a kid. Tony, whose older but certainly doesn't act like it, he's just...very energetic and doesn't think things through."

Emma smiled. "You love them though."

"Excuse me?"

"Your face just lit up and the mention of them. I've been watching you for a month now and that was probably the happiest I've seen you." She explained.

"Oh right, thanks." Dean replied, After a few moments though, he smirked at her. "You've been watching me for a month?"

"Time for class." Emma said, walking into the classroom, leaving Dean outside still smiling.

Friday

John

"Alright, you can play." With those four words, John managed something he thought would never be possible. All three of his sons stopped eating their breakfast for a few moments.

"Huh?"

"What?"

"Really?"

"Yes. IF-"

"YES!" Tony cried, jumping up, nearly knocking the milk off the table.

"Alright T!" Dean yelled, high-fiving his brother.

"Cool, save me a seat in the front row." Sam put in, smiling much more sedately than his brothers.

"Thanks Dad, I promise just this one game then-" Tony started before John held up a hand to stop him.

"You can play, IF...it is just the one game, you stay safe, you don't draw attention to yourself and...if you don't mind me cheering you on."

Tony smiled and before he could help himself, he pulled John into a fierce hug. "Thanks Dad, of course I want you all there. Game's at 5."

"I'll wait by the front door and show you where to go Dad," Sam offered.

"Thanks Sammy," John said, not missing the grimace on his 11 year-old son's face. John smiled to himself as he remembered. Sam had recently started protesting his nickname of Sammy, not that anyone paid attention to him. He still hadn't learned that by hating it, Tony and Dean would just call him that even more. John just often forgot and called him by the affectionate name.

"What about you Dean?"

"Uh no. Since you're playing now, I guess I have a date." Dean smiled.

"Really? That girl you've been going on about since yesterday."

"She said she liked me. And yes, I think she said her cousin was the captain, so she always goes to the game. At least now she'll have good company."

"So sure of yourself."

"What's not to love about me?" Dean and Tony continued joking as they cleared the table.

"OK then, everybody got their homework?"

John question was met with two grunts and one proud confirmation.

"Coats?"

Three more replies.

"Lunch?"

Another chorus of agreements.

"Let's go then."

SNSNSNSNSN

A few hours later, Sam was leading John through the school towards the school's inside ice hockey area. John was only mildly surprised at the fact the school had one to themselves, until he rationalized that it probably was the town's biggest sport so of course they would do everything they could for the kids to play.

"I think here will be a good spot." Sam suggested, and John had to agree. It was pretty much in the middle of the court and a couple of rows from the dividers.

"Good choice Sam," John said and was happy to see Sam smile at that. "So how was school today?"

"Good, I got my test back from Math, 97%."

"Excellent work, so what does that mean?"

"No homework for me this weekend." Sam smiled, though he did love schoolwork he also loved having a relaxing weekend. He took a deep breath as he got ready to ask his father a question, but he figured since John was in a good mood today then he might agree. "A kid in class is having a birthday party...everyone in the class is invited."

"A party?" John asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, we'd go ice skating in the afternoon at the local sports centre then go out for pizza." Sam said lightly, looking at his father with hopeful eyes.

"Just the class?"

"Oh no, his parents will be there the whole time."

"I guess we'll have to stop off at the store and get him a present after the game."

"Really? I can go?"

"What can I say, you got me on a good day." John said smiling, glad he had made two sons happy today.

"Thanks Dad," Sam said, trowing his arms round John.

"You're welcome."

"Oh jeez," they heard someone just behind them quietly mutter. Looking behind John saw Dean walking up a few rows, holding a girl's hand. He caught his son's eye as the couple sat down and merely smiled at him. Dean tried to keep his face blank but let out a small smile at his father before speaking to Emma.

When the teams emerged from their locker rooms, families and friends around the stands cheered when they recognised a name. Even John and Sam whooped and clapped loudly when 'Tony Pierce' was announced. He hadn't expected it but John felt his chest bursting with pride when Tony took a lap round the ice and waved to his dad and brothers.

Pretty soon the game was underway and the two schools were scoring evenly, actually making it an uneventful game, but John couldn't take his eyes off Tony. Due to lack of players, Tony had been put on from the first minute and seemed to be thriving on the adrenaline. John recognised it from times Tony had been hunting, he was an energetic person anyway and when he was given something active to do, you did not want to get in his way.

One problem that usually gave them though was Tony often didn't see the danger before leaping into a situation, and was more than likely the Winchester to get injured in someway. So John was anxious but not surprised when Tony found himself slammed against the glass by an opposing player, taking him down as well though. Tony managed to shake it off from years of training and skated off before the other guy could even get up.

The last five minutes were the ones that got everyone leaping in their seats though, evenly scored, people were getting restless. But John knew that was another secret tactic of Tony, he always pretended to get tired and winded but always kept back a small burst of energy till the end. And he did the same here, a team member passed the puck to Tony who let loose and weaved in and out of every player on the rink, keeping the puck to himself until the 5 second countdown before racing to the other end of the court and shooting the puck into the goal, earning his team the winning points.

John and Sam leapt from the seats, cheering wildly, and shouting Tony's name, who had disappeared under his teammates congratulations. Out of the corner of his eyes John could see Dean was also cheering happily for his brother.

Once again, John was swept up in the fairy tale moment, when the Winchesters were just like everyone in that room, even it was for just one night.

Saturday

The next day arrived quickly after the family's small celebration. As planned, Sam was at his classmates birthday party, while Tony was hanging out with the hockey team, this time though they were holding the school Gym hostage for a game of basketball. They had invited Tony along not knowing that was his real Sport speciality, but he played it down at John's request. And Dean was having lunch at the local diner with Emma and then planned to spend the rest of the day watching movies at her house, he obviously couldn't invite her back to the motel.

So that left John at the motel again by himself. He made the most of it though and cleaned all the weapons stored in the Impala, made a few calls and updated his journal, cleaned up the Kitchen area which the boys had left in a tip after breakfast, all rushing out of the motel.

By nightfall all three of them had returned, with Tony bringing dinner in the form of Chinese takeout.

"So you three enjoy your day?" John asked, digging in to dinner.

"Yep, Adam had an awesome party. We started out Ice Skating at the town rink, then we went to his house nearby, you see he lives next to a huge hill, so we all took turns sledding down it. It was fantastic, then after we went back inside his house where his Mom let us have hot chocolate, pizza and cake, and we played some games. Including the board game I got him, he loved it."

"Good," John smiled. He and Sam had worried about what present to give the kid, nothing too expensive obviously, but Sam couldn't turn up empty handed. They eventually found a cheap but fun looking board game, and apparently it paid off.

"Yeah, sounds like a real happening party." Dean droned.

"Well much better that sucking face with a girl. Did you come up for air at all from Emma?" Sam shot back.

"Of course I did, we talked." Dean protested indignantly.

Tony just smirked, remembering what he had seen the two doing at the diner when he and the team had gone there for lunch. "Well I had a good day, played basketball and hung out with the cheerleaders. I can go to bed a happy man."

John looked sternly at his son while Sam rolled his eyes. "Typical Tony."

"Hey I'm allowed to have fun. I like this town and who knows how long it will last." With that statement, everyone froze. Because they knew it was true, they all liked this town and had been enjoying their life for this past month, but soon enough it would be over. They would be moving on to the next town and the next hunt, this town simply a memory.

John cleared his throat and gestured at the TV in their modest 'living room', "So you boys all viewed out or you wanna watch the movie on TV with your dear old Dad. It's one of your favorites boys, Die Hard."

All three of them smiled, it was actually one of the few films they all loved and would agree on watching.

"Sounds great Dad," Dean said, starting to clear the table.

Sam went over to the TV and tried to fix the aerial to get the signal, he just hoped he wouldn't be holding up in the air again. Just a couple of weeks before, Sam had found the signal's perfect spot for a baseball game and his brothers demanded he freeze and hold the aerial just like that...about five inches above his head. Every time his arm had relaxed he was met with yells from Tony and Dean, who were too busy engrossed in the game to care. He suspected a bet had been going on. But luck was on his side this time as the movie was on a different channel with easier reception.

"We got popcorn?" Tony asked checking the cupboards. "Result- popcorn and chips!" He declared happily, holding up both bags.

"Easy T, the movie is two hours long." Dean reminded him, as he threw himself onto the bed, still getting a good angle from the TV. For some reason, Tony was happy to sit on the floor, while John and Sam took the sofa as the Winchester family settled in to watch John McClane save LA, rather than them for once.

Sunday

'Tony jinxed us,' Dean thought, as he packed his bag. Nothing new there, but what was new was the feeling of disappointment at leaving Emma behind.

The whole family had been woken by a phone call at 5 in the morning, though they quickly forgave the caller because it was Bobby. He had news on the Yellow-Eyed Demon, which had caused John to leap out of bed and takes notes. Pretty soon he was ordering the boys about, saying he wanted to hit the road before the sun came up. So with practiced and military precision, the boys did as they were told albeit not happily.

"Dad, we can't just leave. The people here know us, they might get worried if we just up and don't see them." Dean complained, wanting to wait to see Emma.

John sighed, knowing his son was right. But this was exactly why he didn't like getting close to people, Tony had been right, they never knew when they were gonna hit the road again. "How about a note?"

"A note?"

"Dean we have to go now if we wanna get to Tucson, it's over a days drive." John said angrily, sweeping the family's toiletries into a bag and throwing it at Sam to put in the car.

"Fine," Dean grumbled, knowing it was the best he was gonna get. So he quickly scribbled out a sorry excuse for a note explaining to Emma that his Dad had been given a job offer in Philadelphia and they had to leave that morning and knew she would pass on the message to anyone else who asked. After John approved it, Dean waited in the car.

When everyone was ready and the room was cleaned, Tony went to check the family out. And as they left town, John stopped on Emma's street letting Dean leave the note in the mailbox for her, since it was only just after 6 in the morning.

As Dean walked back to the car, bundled up in his coat, he sighed. Just another town in the Winchester life. "Goodbye."


	11. Chapter 11 Teaching Sammy

So here we have another quick update, hope you like it. This one is a little shorter than most but contains your favorite, some brotherly bonding, and a beloved family friend. Thanks again for your wonderful reviews, I love hearing from this story's readers.

Disclaimer- Same old party line- I do NOT own any of these shows or characters (I wish)

Chapter 11- Behind the Wheel

South Dakota, USA- 22nd February 1995

"Congratulations Sammy, you're an official hunter now!" Tony yelled.

"I would of thought being an official hunter would mean actually killing a demon myself, so far all I'm good for is research and carrying the weapons." Sam grumbled, even though he despised being a hunter, he still wanted more important jobs. Mostly because he wanted to be like his older brothers, plus learning to drive at 11 was just awesome, since most kids wouldn't get to learn till they were 16. Sam felt a little bit of glee, when John admitted he had learned when he was in the army and didn't get his license till he was 21. Sam now had 10 years on him.

"Well this is the next big thing, Sammy boy. Driving the getaway car." Dean put in, slapping Sam on the back. At 11 years old, Sam was now learning to drive, a rite of passage for the Winchester boys that all began at 11. Both Tony and Dean had taken there turns behind the wheel of the car at that age and now it was young Sam's turn.

While John was helping another hunter James Kellan, kill a pack of zombies in Florida, the boys were currently staying with Bobby for the month. So Sammy had been learning in some of the cars from Bobby's lot, he had also been allowed to drive around town at night, since they did most of their driving at night. Like most things Sam had learnt quickly and was pretty confident on the road, but now Tony and Dean were letting him take on the highway.

John wanted Sam to take it slow and easy, but Tony and Dean knew what their little brother could handle. So when John had left on the hunting job, for once they were happy to stay with Sam and not help their Dad on the job. And just their luck on this particular day, Bobby was busy researching for another hunter and didn't want them under his foot. So when they asked if they could borrow a car and go driving for a while, he just grunted and waved them away.

Dean drove out to the small town of Winner, South Dakota, where they grabbed some lunch and then Sam was allowed behind the wheel for the 3 hour journey back to Bobby's house in Sioux Falls, Dean was going to take over just before they reached the city, since they thought people would notice an 11 year-old driving in the city in broad daylight. Truth be told, Sam was a little nervous but he didn't want to let his brothers know.

"Now just take it easy Sam, you know how to drive. You know how to change gears, and how to turn corners, on the highway you're just going a bit faster." Tony said gently from the backseat. Dean was up front in the passenger seat, while Sam was in the driver's seat sitting on an old phone book of Bobby's, one of the books he didn't mind them borrowing.

"I know, Tony." Sam said, his voice only wavering a little as he started the engine. They were off.

SNSNSNSNSN

After an hour, Sam was in a comfortable rhythm, Tony had said they were now cruising, Sam knew that meant they were at a constant speed.

"You're doing really good, Sammy." Dean said, quickly checking the speed. "Just go easy and smoothly."

"I know, Dean." Sam said in a smug tone.

"And don't get too cocky," Tony said, with a small smile. "Just because nothing has happened, doesn't mean it can't. Why do you think we brought you on one of the more deserted highways. Be thankful Bobby lives in a wide and sparse state, wait till you have to drive in New York."

The boys all shuddered at that memory. Just a couple of years before they had to go hunt a pack of vampires that was terrorizing Central Park, but they had all been more afraid of John driving through New York City. He had yelled at other cars, braked sharply more times than they could count, complained non-stop about the awful street signs and practically every other word out of his mouth was a curse. The boys had all been gripping the door handles with their hearts thudding the entire drive. Everyone had been much happier when Tony had driven them out of the city.

Safe to say the Winchesters wouldn't be returning to New York City anytime soon.

Dean tensed up a little when he noticed a truck in front of them. "OK, Sam now you're gonna want to take this bad boy over. So slow down a little and make sure it's safe to get round him."

"OK..." Sam said as he lifted his foot off the gas a little. But then came his main problem with driving, while they had adjusted the car enough to fit him in the driver's seat, he still wasn't able to see round vehicles in front of him. And the huge truck wasn't helping. "Damnit. Dean I can't see round." He complained as they were now officially stuck behind the slow moving truck.

"Alright, Tony. You got it?" Dean asked as Tony nodded.

"Sure little brothers." Tony undid his seat belt and rolled down the back window on Sam's side of the car. He lifted himself up and stuck his head out the window, seeing round the truck. "OK, you're good, nothing else for miles."

"Right so you just wanna go on the other side of the road, and speed up past him. Then when you see him in the side mirror and middle mirror, that's enough distance to go back in front of him." Dean explained. Sam nodded and took a deep breath, before following his brother's instructions.

"No problem," Sam said when they were in front of the truck.

"Well done, Sammy." Tony cheered from the back. "Just one more lesson in driving."

"A very important one, but not as important as...No drinking and driving!" Dean said looking intently at his younger brother, speaking in an ominous tone.

Sam laughed when something occurred to him and he asked slyly. "Does that mean you'll let me have a drink?"

"NO!" Tony yelled. "Dad would kill us, then Bobby would help bury our bodies in his backyard."

"Don't worry Tony, I'm in no hurry to drink." Sam said sincerely, while he wanted to be like his brothers in most areas, not so much in others.

"Are you sure you're our brother?" Dean mumbled.

Sam just smiled as he kept on driving. "Hey Dean, it's your favourite." He joked as 'Livin On A Prayer,' began playing on the radio.

Tony laughed with him as the two of them sang along, Dean desperately covering his ears trying to block out the song.

SNSNSNSNSN

They were getting closer to Sioux Falls now, just a little bit longer and Dean would be taking over. Since they were 16 they had both recently passed their tests in South Dakota and their licenses proudly displayed their real names and claimed Bobby's address as their home. (Well actually Dean's name was real since Tony still wasn't legally an official Winchester, just in everyone's mind he was.)

However just as they had pulled over to the side of the road and Dean had switched seats with Sam, a police car came up behind them.

"Oh shit!" Dean cursed under his breath. "Nobody say a word, let me do the talking."

"No offense bro, but people say I'm the charming one in the family. I'll talk to him." Tony said, sitting upright now.

"No Tony, I'm driving now so it's my responsibility."

As Tony and Dean began arguing, Sam rolled his eyes and spoke up.

"Why don't you just wait and see what he says? We weren't doing anything wrong." Sam asked innocently. Tony and Dean stared at each other and decided that Sam was making the most sense and waited for the officer to approach them.

"Afternoon Sir," Dean said, rolling down his window.

The policeman was a guy in his 30's, and quickly searched over the car. "You boys know you're not allowed to stop on a highway."

"Yes Sir, we do. But uh..." Dean began before faltering.

"Our little brother here was feeling a little carsick. And our dad said we could take the car but only if we kept it clean and looked after the little one here," Tony answered ruffling Sam's hair.

"Uh huh," The officer said, not really believing them. The car was pretty beat up, he probably thought a kid throwing up in the back wouldn't make much difference to the state of the car. "You feel OK now, son?"

"Yes sir, much. I got out and walked round a bit." Sam replied, lying easily.

"Alright then, just keep the window down and get some fresh air. I'll let you off, so get out of here and drive safely." He said, clearly not wanting to waste his time reporting this, knowing it was nothing serious.

"Yes officer, we're going straight home now." Dean said, starting up the engine. "Thanks."

All three boys waited till the police car was far behind them before they each let out a sigh of relief. "Damn that was close."

"You did good there Sammy, I almost believed you." Tony said, smiling proudly at his little brother.

"Of course I can lie that good, I'm a Winchester." Sam said. The brothers laughed heartily as they entered Sioux Falls.

Before long they were pulling up into Bobby's lot and found the owner on his porch, his face a picture of thunder.

"Where the hell have you three been?" Bobby demanded as they got out of the car.

"We were out for a drive," Tony said smoothly. "You said we could."

"Oh did I?" He asked, looking each of the boys in the eye. As usual they found they couldn't lie to Bobby, they loved and respected him too much to do that to him.

"Alright, you didn't really say. I just caught you when you weren't paying much attention." Tony admitted.

"Where were you then?"

"We were on a drive. We went to Winner, South Dakota. It's.."

"About 3 hours from here. I know." Bobby nodded. "Who drove?"

"I did," Dean said. But he also crumbled under Bobby's gaze. "I drove there and on the way back from the outskirts of Sioux Falls."

"So who drove on the highway on the way home?"

"I did, Bobby. I'm sorry we didn't tell you but I really wanted to try. And I did good. I really did. Right Tony? Dean?" Sam said frantically, he absolutely hated it when Bobby was mad with him. They were research buddies, after all. When they were staying at Bobby's, Sam usually stayed behind on jobs helping Bobby in his home.

"I'm sure you did. But I seem to remember your Daddy telling you all, Sam wasn't allowed to drive on the highway yet." Bobby grumbled.

"Only because he didn't think Sammy was ready, but he was-is." Tony argued. "Don't worry, we'll tell Dad the truth when he gets back."

"Too late." John replied as he stepped out of Bobby's house onto the porch. In the yard, the boys all looked wide-eyed at their father who had come back from his hunt early and had just heard the whole story.

"Uh oh," Sam said.

"Oh yes, Sammy. You are in trouble." John said as walked over to his sons.

"John, try not to kill 'em, I already got a body in the backyard." Bobby said as he went inside.

"So you decided Sam could drive on the highway?" John asked Dean and Tony, who were both looking at the ground. "Boys?"

"Yes sir," they replied in unison.

"I'm sorry Dad, but I thought I was ready. And I was, there were hardly any other cars and I did fine, nothing happened." Sam blurted out.

The boys had already agreed not to tell Bobby or their father about the police officer since he hadn't ticketed them, they had essentially gotten away with it.

John sighed heavily. "I'm sure you did just fine Sam, but I still would have liked to have been informed about this. What if something had happened to you? I wouldn't have known until it was too late."

"But the rate you were going, you wouldn't let Sammy on the highways for at least another two years. He had to learn sometime." Tony argued. "And he did really good. You should be proud of him Dad, because we are."

John looked at them. "You still disobeyed me, so go on inside. I was going to leave tomorrow but after Bobby remembered the three of you saying you were going out driving, we spent our time waiting for you and writing up a list. We're staying here for another week, where you three have each got a long list of chores to finish." He gently shoved them up on the porch. "And they are pretty long so you better get started now."

All three groaned as they realised maybe they hadn't gotten away with their escapade. Plus it was spring break, so with no school for the week they would be doing chores all day. But they knew better than to argue with John Winchester especially when he had Bobby Singer on his side, which didn't happen very often.

Before they entered the house though, John called out to his youngest son. "Hey Sammy!"

"Yes, Dad?"

"I am proud of you, and next time you're driving on the highway, I'll be sitting next to you." John said with a small smile.

Sam grinned and hurried back to his father, hugging him fiercely. "Thanks Dad."


	12. Chapter 12 Take 2

I know, I know, where have I been? I said I wouldn't keep it another month before updating but damn, sometimes things just get int the way. I blame my cousin who has been visiting, so most of my time has been spent showing her around (I love you really, sweetie!)

But still I have updated and I know I said this story would go up to when Tony would start college, but I have decided there will be another two chapters to finish up with.

Thanks again for the lovely reviews, I do love reading your encouraging comments, I'm glad you're liking the story.

Disclaimer- I do NOT own Supernatural or NCIS, I wish...

Chapter 12- Take 2

Los Angeles, California, USA- 8th July 1996

When John realised Tony's birthday was coming up and he didn't have any jobs planned, he asked his eldest son where he wanted to spend his 18th birthday. Tony took only a second to think about it before replying.

"Los Angeles."

The family had been to Southern California before on a job, but John had avoided Los Angeles, deeming it too prolific. But really he didn't want Tony or Dean distracted. This time though, John just sighed and agreed.

Tony and Dean immediately began planning all the tourist spots to visit, including the Walk of Fame, and various movie locations. Bobby had instructed John to take the boys to a ball game on him, claiming that as Tony's birthday present. He usually didn't give the boys anything extravagant but made the exception for Tony's 18th.

So on the summer day of July 2nd, the Winchester family stood in the bright sunshine looking at the named stars beneath their feet.

"Look, I'm standing on James Dean." Tony called joyously. Sam rolled his eyes and walked over to Sam. "What do you think Sammy, spitting image or what?" Sighing heavily, Sam tried very hard to pretend he didn't know the older boy now posing on the crowded street. He looked around and saw John and Dean smirking at him from the shaded section of the street.

"Alright Jimmy, let's get your picture." Sam backed up and snapped a picture of Tony grinning over James Dean's star.

"OK, T before you get your Oscar why don't we go for some lunch." John said, walking over to them.

"Good plan, Dad. Where?"

After deliberating and a short drive, the Winchester family were sitting in a normal, nice restaurant. Nothing out of place or supernatural. John truly hoped the whole week would be like that. As much as he needed to hunt the monster that had killed his wife, he wanted his son's to have a break. Especially Tony.

"So you having a good birthday T?" Dean asked, after devouring his lunch in five minutes.

"Absolutely. So we've had a our movie day, I'm thinking tomorrow we go to that theme park, what's the one?"

"Knots Berry Farm," Sam supplied.

"Isn't that going to be expensive?" John asked.

"I won money from poker at school, I'll pay for us all." Dean grinned.

"And why is it whenever we go grocery shopping, you suddenly have no money?"

"You never ask at the right time?"

"Fine, we can go rolling and spinning all over the skies tomorrow." John agreed.

"Hey Dad, you reckon we can go to Sunset Strip one night? I mean me and Dean?" Tony asked casually.

"You mean the famous street in LA with all the clubs and bars?" John asked, just as causally.

"Yeah, I mean we have ID and they're not all bad. We've been to worst places than all the people in those bars probably."

"Tony, I don't want any attention while we're here."

"Dad, we're in the land of movie stars, no one's looking at us." Sam pointed out.

"Actually have you noticed there aren't many ghosts or demons, or really much of any supernatural activity here?" Dean wondered quietly.

"I've wondered that, with so many people, why not? Plus with all the Hollywood action here it seems they could go unnoticed here." John mentioned.

"Hey as long as they're not gonna ruin my birthday week, I'm happy." Tony said.

SNSNSNSNSN

A few days later and the family had gone to the theme park, John had gone on a few rides but wisely stayed off the more wild ones, while the boys went on them again and again. The next day was deemed a quiet day for the family while the boys recovered with uneasy stomachs and pounding headaches, with John smugly watching over them.

Friday was the day of Tony's actual birthday and they were now heading to the game Bobby had sent them to. "We're gonna have cake later, aren't we?" Tony asked yet again.

"Yes, Tony. We are." Sam groaned. "You'd think it was your 8th birthday instead of 18th."

"You know what that means, don't you Sam?"

"Time to grow up?" Sam guessed.

"Nope, I'm an adult. I can do whatever I want." Tony proclaimed happily.

"I don't think so." John muttered. He didn't miss the wary look Tony gave him.

"You excited for the game T?"

"Absolutely."

"When we get back you can call Bobby and thank him." John said sternly.

"Dad that's so childish. Bobby knows I love him."

"Anthony." John warned.

"Fine, hey how about we send him the foam finger as thanks." Tony said, waving it around.

"I can't believe you actually got one." Dean grumbled, already halfway through his snacks.

"It's a tradition. This is our first live game, after watching hundreds on a grainy TV. Enjoy yourself Dean-o," Tony smiled. And despite himself, Dean smiled right back.

SNSNSNSNSN

The family did enjoy the game, and Tony did dutifully call Bobby giving him the exact details of the game, and telling him all about their week in LA. That was the calm before the storm though, as John found a letter Tony had been keeping hidden for a while now. And that was when hell broke loose in the Winchester family.

"Anthony, how could you do this?" John cried angrily. Once again Dean and Sam made a quick and quiet exit, and decided to grab some dinner.

"Dad, calm down-"

"No Tony, seriously how did you do this, people are gonna find out?"

"No they won't, if you looked at it-"

"It says DINOZZO!" John bellowed.

"DAD! Shut up!" Tony yelled back just as loudly. "OK, take a deep breath and I'll explain."

John frowned at Tony talking to him like this but realised it might be best to do as the young adult said. He had discovered not long ago, a letter from Ohio State University accepting Tony DiNozzo into their upcoming year.

"Dad, I love you. I really do. And I love Dean and Sam just as much, I am eternally grateful for you for taking me in, I know it wasn't easy for you to take me in. But you did."

"Tony, you know you're-"

"Just listen." Tony took a deep breath before continuing. "I am so sorry for what happened to Mary, but I didn't know her. As much as I wish I had done, I don't. Your quest for revenge, isn't mine. Over the past couple of years I've realised I don't want to hunt for the rest of my life. While in some strange way I'm thankful for you teaching me about hunting and being more aware of what's out there, I want to live my life differently now. And the way to start that would be to go to University."

"But how-"

"What's my birth name?" Tony interjected.

"Anthony Michael DiNozzo Jr." John supplied easily.

"I applied as Anthony David DiNozzo." Tony smiled. "What's my birthday?"

"8th July 1978."

"I said my birthday was 20th July 1976, I said I had worked for a couple of years at Bobby's shop and put him as my reference. Where was I born?"

"Long Island, New York."

"I put in New York City and said my family moved around a little because of my father's job. I put in a few of the schools I did go to in case they ask." Tony said.

"You put a lot of thought into this, still what if someone sees your name and remembers?" John asked, genuinely concerned.

"Well everyone thinks I or Anthony Michael died, so if someone says I have the same name as Tony DiNozzo the kid who died, I'll say that others have already said but I didn't know the kid, we just have a similar name."

"What about your social security number?"

"Come on, after everything we've done, we can't fake one of those?" Tony asked.

John sighed as he thought through what Tony was saying, it did sound like he had managed to work everything out, except...

"When did you actually apply?"

"January..." Tony said, trailing off waiting for another burst of anger from his father.

"You've known about this since January?"

"Well no. I applied then, I didn't get the letter till May."

"So you've known for two months you'd be leaving us."

"Dad, I'm going whether you want me to or not, but I would really love your support on this. I don't want to do this if you're not happy."

Tony held his breath as John sat down heavily on one of the beds and closed his eyes for a few moments. Finally to the boy's relief, John spoke. "Tony, as much as I hate to say this. Good luck." John said smiling a little as Tony's face lit up.

"Really?"

"Yes. You're right Tony, this isn't something you have to do, hunting, traveling, the lies of who you are. This is something I brought on you. But if you really want to do this, then yes I will let you. I wanna go over the details a little more to make sure everything is safe but I don't see any reason you can't go."

"Thanks Dad." Tony said, leaping over and hugging John before he could stop himself.

"Looks like we got back just in time Sammy." Dean said smirking at his older brother and father. "Having fun?"

"Is that a cake?" Tony asked, eyeing the big white bakery box in Sam's hands.

"Of course, what else? But's that's for after." Dean said, bringing in a couple of pizza boxes. "I know this isn't much of a birthday dinner but it's your favourite. Happy Birthday T."

"Thanks D." Tony replied happily. "And Dad knows."

"Of course you knew." John said, clapping a hand on Dean's shoulder. After all these years, his older sons couldn't keep anything from each other.

"Dad knows what? Tell me." Sam demanded. As the youngest he was usually left out of things, and though he was used to it, he still didn't like it.

"I'm going to college. I got into OSU." Tony said cheerfully.

"No way! Dad do you have any idea how hard it is to get into that school?" Sam said, hugging his eldest brother. "Way to go Tony."

"Really? I mean you just apply, don't you?" John asked, since he had gone straight into the army after High school and his boys never mentioning college, he didn't really know anything about the application process of it.

"No you have to get really good grades, have a killer essay explaining why you want to attend the school and the subject- Hey what are you majoring in?"

"Physical Education."

"Oh dude, what a cop out? You gonna be a Gym teacher?" Dean chuckled.

"Dean, there's more to it than that." Tony argued.

"Yeah, medical knowledge, sports knowledge, planning and strategizing techniques. Probably your years of hunting helped with that." Sam pointed out, as Tony nodded.

"Sounds like a good course. When you do go there?" John asked.

"School starts in Columbus, Ohio on the September 29th."

"Right so we will block out that week to go to Ohio." John said.

"Awesome. Thanks guys, I'm really excited about this."

"Wait, that means you won't be with us anymore? You'll be at college." Sam said sadly, as it all sank in.

"Dude, don't worry, you can come pick me up on Holidays and I demand that we stay in touch."

"Yeah but you'll be leaving me alone with these two." Dean protested, waving a hand at his father and brother, who in turn both glared at him. "Oh come on you two were thinking the same thing."

"Least we'll all finally get our own beds." Sam reasoned.

"I'm not sleeping on that damn cot." Dean argued.

"I don't know, I think Sam's gonna be getting his growth spurt soon."

"I'm already an inch taller than last year." Sam said proudly.

"You're still only 14, loser." Dean argued, pushing Sam to the side and grabbing the last pizza slice. Tony smiled as he watched them arguing from the side, realising he was actually gonna be leaving this. His family. He stood by his decision and all the reasons he had given John were true, but still this was his life. It was all he had known for as long as he could remember. Tony sometimes forgot himself that he hadn't always been a Winchester, and now he was going back to DiNozzo.

'I do want this. I will leave and make my own life. But still...' Tony though before John interrupted.

"Hey Tony, I know what you're thinking. But don't worry, Bobby always has a room for us, and you will always have a bed with us. You're still part of this family."

"Yeah, you can't get away from us that easy." Dean smirked.

"Promise you'll call and tell us about it."

"Guys, you do realise I'm not leaving for two and half months." Tony joked.

"Oh yeah, we still have to suffer with your snoring for that long." Dean grumbled.

"And your movie quotes." Sam put in.

"And your clothes thrown about everywhere."

"Oh great, I'm feeling the birthday love."

"Guess this will be a good time for cake then." Sam said, smiling pulling out his trusty lighter. For once though he wasn't using it to eradicate any evil being. He simply lit a 1 and an 8 candle on top of the chocolate cake.

"Happy Birthday T."

"Happy Birthday big brother."

"Happy Birthday Tony."

Tony smiled and blew out the flames before nodding at his family. "Thanks guys."

Yeah, no matter where he went, Tony knew he would be a Winchester for life. There was no getting away from them, and more importantly he didn't want to.


	13. Chapter 13 Now & Then

OK, so again sorry for the wait but here we have another chapter- woo hoo! So this one was inspired by the 'Beautiful Loser' montage from the first episode of Season 6, only focused on Tony. I also had to tweak his NCIS back-timeline a little. I'll explain it more in the next chapter but basically instead of spending two years in each city before NCIS, in this story he just spends 1 year in them- you'll see.

Anyway onto the story, thank you as always for the reviews, and I do NOT own NCIS or Supernatural (Oh how I wish) Oh and a word of warning, the next chapter will be the last one for this story...

Chapter 13- Now & Then

19th November 2001- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

It was a cold day in the city of brotherly love. Detective Tony DiNozzo smirked at the nickname of his current hometown. He had been working in Philadelphia for 5 months now and was getting used to it. Having grown up in various towns and states, he wasn't bothered by the weather, so trekking through the city in the snow was nothing. But right now his mind was on other things besides the weather. Sam had called him that morning, even though he'd visited Tony in the summer.

After Tony had gone to Ohio State University, he had graduated and gone straight to the Police Academy, and left there within a year. He had then spent a year working at the Peoria Police Department in Illinois, after learning a lot and getting the experience he needed, Tony decided he was ready for a bigger city and applied to Philadelphia, quickly settling in.

Only a year before, Sam himself had left the Winchester family business and gone to University, specifically Stanford. Tony was incredibly proud of his youngest brother and had told him so many times. he figured he had to make up for their father who had pretty much cut Sam off. John hadn't approved of Sam leaving, especially as they still hadn't found the demon they had killed their mother- Mary Winchester. Since Tony wasn't Mary's biological son and had never met her, John had been more relaxed when Tony went to OSU. Being the youngest though Sam had always been more protected, so John was adamant that Sam did not leave the family until they had avenged their mother, completing disregarding the fact that Sam had been 6 months old when Mary died and barely knew anything about her, since the family never talked about her.

Because Sam had been living on the roads since he was a baby, he couldn't remember living in a house or staying in one school or not having to change his name at the drop of a hat. Needless to say he had been very nervous when he began at Stanford, not knowing if he would fit in and like the lifestyle of staying in one place. In the first month he had called Tony every day, sometimes twice and always asking questions. Tony understood though and was patient with his little brother, like he always had been and helped him out. Especially since John and Dean never called Sam. Tony was still in touch with them but the Winchester men weren't known for sharing their feelings.

But Sam had been at Stanford for a year now and was beginning to relax more. He had spent most of the year studying every day and staying on top of his classes, mostly because he didn't want to get thrown out and he was there on a scholarship, as the Winchesters were continuously penniless, 'Hey it's not like hunting is a recognised job,' Tony often thought. After time though Sam settled in and enjoyed his classes, made a few friends and was able to enjoy his life, choosing what he wanted to do.

Tony understood it though. When he began at Ohio State and even now sometimes, he found himself comparing it to his old lifestyle.

Just the day before he had to do laundry. He put his dirty clothes into a basket and carried them down to the laundry service in his building. Did his laundry while reading a sports magazine. Never again would he take a case file down there, while some of his neighbors knew he was a cop, one of the old ladies nearly had a heart attack when she accidentally peeked at a crime scene photo. Sometimes he even left his stuff there to wash while he cleaned his apartment or did a couple of quick errands. Then when it was all cleaned, dried and folded, Tony just took it back to his apartment.

Very different from before.

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1994

"Dammit, we got blood stains here T. Dad said he didn't want anymore clothes thrown out." 16 year-old Dean grumbled, as he looked through the dirty clothes on the bed.

"Well then he shouldn't have taken a vampire's head off while he was moving around so much. Knock 'em out first, so much easier." Tony snapped back. Going through his own clothes was just as troubling, many stains from hunts and general roughhousing with his brothers.

"I got grass stains." Sam said from his corner.

Dean and Tony raised their eyebrows at each other. "I don't wanna know." T answered for them both.

Sam frowned before realizing what his brothers assumed. "Screw you Tony. It's from playing Soccer at school, I got the winning-"

"Goal!" His brothers joined in, knowingly.

"Alright boys, you going?" John asked, coming into the motel room, handing his own bag over. "Laundromat shouldn't be too busy right now." They nodded and left, Dean driving the Impala. While the boys took care of the clothes, John was going to get some rest after a solo hunt the night before.

And off they went. With a box of laundry powder and a lot of quarters, the boys spent most of the day there. With laundry they usually did it whenever they could, coming into town they looked for the local laundromat and spent a day there. Tony took care of the washers, Dean watched the dryers and Sam folded, it was a routine they had down pat. Since they didn't live in a house they didn't have many chores to do, clothes washing was one though.

Usually they spent time playing cards, reading or just chatting. Tony remembered when he was little, his family had a maid that used to wash and lay out all his little suits for him. Strange as it was to say, Tony preferred the Winchester way of laundry.

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Another thing Tony had found strange was not having to spend half his life on the road. While he did still love a good road trip and could go off on them at a moment's notice. That was something that drove his girlfriends and professors crazy, but he couldn't help it. He would just get that itchy feeling and want to drive, get the road underneath him and he would only go for a couple of days. But since he always made it up to his girlfriends, and caught up on his schoolwork, it was usually overlooked. Overtime though the need had lessened, and now that he was officially working a legal job, he limited himself to when he actually had time off work.

As Tony finally arrived at work, he smiled and recalled days when he was traveling with his family, in their trusty car. The fifth member of the family.

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1995

It had been exactly 10 years since Tony had become part of the Winchester family. 11 and a half years since Mary Winchester had died and John had taken his boys on the road. Tony fit seamlessly into their lives, never doubting for a second that he belonged with them. 16 and he could barely remember his life before the Winchesters. It seemed strange that he had only worn suits with his mother dressing him as her little model, his father trying to make him a miniature businessman, living with a maid, nanny, chauffeur and cook.

Today was one of those days when the family didn't have a job, so they were simply driving until they found a good, anonymous town to settle in or they found a lead. Occasionally they did this, they would each take turns driving. Right now John was at the wheel, Dean in the back listening to his ancient Walkman and Tony could faintly hear the sounds of Metallica bleeding through. Sam was next to him, reading 'Oliver Twist', he had recently discovered classic novels and was slowing borrowing them from the library. Sam read pretty quickly, but sometimes they would leave town before Sam could finish the book and it would get taken along. Sam always left it in the next library, claiming it should be in some library at least. Tony didn't have the luxury of being able to read in a moving vehicle, and was currently in the front passenger seat just staring at the passing landscape.

He had once read that Johnny Cash had travelled America so much during his music tour days that he could look out the window at any barren desert, forest or town and know where he was. Tony had been traveling over America for a decade now and couldn't distinguish one state from the next until he saw a city landmark or something famous. Right now it was just a dusty road with some flashes of green here and there. But it was strangely familiar, they probably had been along this highway before but Tony couldn't recall it.

Growing up in a giant, fancy house on Long Island, most of his car trips had taken him to the city when his parents wanted to show him off and pretend to be a picture perfect family. But here though, this was a family. Living on the road was never something he had envisioned for himself, but he was glad he had said yes to the Winchesters.

"You alright there T?" Dean asked, seeing his older brother staring out the window.

"Yeah, I'm just fine Dean." Tony said, giving his brother a real smile, which Dean returned.

And yes he was, Tony Winchester was doing just fine.

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As Tony sat down to work, he began leafing through his messages seeing if anyone had left any new leads for him. He and his partner had about five open cases, though he was the newbie so he was the one doing most the grunt work while his partner got the praise for teaching him how to be a good cop. Tony rolled his eyes as he thought back to when he first became a cop.

Most of the Academy trainers had been slightly surprised by how many fighting styles and defence tactics he knew.

"My Dad was a Marine, wanted me to be safe," Tony just shrugged, which was technically the truth. Tony just left out how John wanted him to be safe against supernatural creatures. He also became the attendee who had sped through the proper way of researching. Skimming pages the correct way to get the vital information, knowing the key areas to focus on, and of course being able to speak to witnesses about crimes and knowing exactly what to say to them.

That of course was something else John had taught him.

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1987

9 year-old Tony was bored. While his brothers were playing or watching TV at their motel room, John had dragged Tony to the local library. Since the boys usually did what they were told, John didn't have to discipline them a lot. And he couldn't really ground them, since they spent most of the time in a motel or the Impala, so in a way of a punishment and a learning technique, John had instead decided to teach Tony the proper way to research.

Dean and Tony were getting older and starting to truly understand hunting and what it entailed. While they knew how to fight most creatures and the basic knowledge of them, John hadn't let them help him on the research angle, knowing their attention span was limited, especially on Tony's end.

"So the first thing you need to do is write down everything you now about the case." John had explained, when he had sat Tony down. "And then find out the key areas you need to research, OK?"

"Why do you have to do this stuff, you know it's a Shapeshifter, just get a silver knife and stab it." Tony grumbled, kicking his legs against the chair petulantly.

"And how do I explain that to the family of the person it's taken over, Tony?" John said quietly, not wanting to draw attention from anyone. "And there is more to it than that. Not many people know about supernatural creatures, so there are many theories about them. By researching in different towns, I can always find out something new about them. And the more I know, the better I can help people."

Tony was quiet and still for a few moments as he thought about what his father was telling him. "Help people? Why do you help strangers, they don't even care and most don't know what you do for them. So why do it?"

"Someone has to. And if I can help people even if they don't know, I know I'm helping you boys as well. Any creature down is one that can't hurt you or Dean or Sammy." John explained. Tony frowned but nodded. "Someone also has to do the research. So this is an old case of mine, I have the information but I want to see who much you can find out yourself. You've got three hours."

"I have to stay here and look through books for three hours?"

"Hey I only had two, you've got extra time." John said, ruffling Tony's hair as he stepped away and went to research a new case. "Everyone has to do research even that detective wearing those god-awful Hawaiian shirts you love."

"Magnum PI." Tony explained, rolling his eyes. His father knew very well what his favourite show was. "But Tom Selleck has writers do the research for him."

Three hours later, Tony was panicking. He had found quite a lot of stuff but he wasn't sure what was real and what he needed, and he found himself wanting to actually do a good job for his dad. When John found him, he saw a lot of what Tony had was viable, but knew the kid still needed to learn a lot. John smiled as he took Tony back to the motel, to the delight of the young boy, knowing he would eventually get it.

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Over the next few years, Tony did indeed learn how to research expertly, helping Dean and Sam when they had to learn. They also found it helpful for doing their homework quicker too. Tony smiled at his desk, before his partner dragged him out of his memory to their newest crime scene and ordered him to get the witness statements.

A few hours later, Tony had clocked out and left the station, heading back to his apartment. As he arrived there, he greeted a couple of his neighbors, and collected his mail. Entering his home, he sifted through the letters, one from an old college girlfriend he had stayed friends with and preferred the traditional way of communication, a couple of bills and some advertisements. Just something else for Tony to get used to. In the past 5 years, he'd had maybe four different addresses, some people were shocked by how often he moved. He just grinned at them and wondered what they would think about his childhood, when he'd had probably over a hundred different addresses in states all over America, for about 11 years.

That was another of the numerous differences that Tony found. Mail. He wasn't one to make longterm friends, so no pen pals as a kid. A few schools set up pen pals in the classes to teach them about letter writing, but Tony always left and had to stop writing to them. And since they didn't live in a house and they took care of the Impala themselves, no bills were ever sent to them. The rare times another hunter sent them something of importance, they would either send it to Bobby or Pastor Jim who would hold it till John could collect it.

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1987

John was fuming. Here he was with a 9 year-old, an 8 year-old and a four year-old, crammed into the back of the Impala, battering down the highway from New Mexico, hurrying up to Iowa. And even though it was nighttime, the sweltering heat of August and a broken AC meant three grumpy kids. Having driven that road before, John knew it took about 17 hours, but he needed to do it in 12. He was expecting a very important package from a fellow hunter that he needed for a job in New Hampshire. He was gonna stop off in Iowa where Pastor Jim was keeping it safe for him.

"Dammit," John grumbled, seeing another town sign ahead. He looked back at Tony in the mirror. "Tony, I need you to keep me away from the towns, I can't really be keeping to the speed limits."

Since he couldn't drive and read, John had given Tony the map thinking the kid could navigate him well enough. Instead he and Dean were arguing about the best route to go. John just growled and pulled into a deserted car park that belonged to a 24 hour Wal-Mart, but since it was 4 in the morning, there was no one else shopping at this time. John got out the car and took the map with him, he cast a look back at the boys. "Stay here, I'm gonna get some food." He locked the doors before stalking into the grocery store.

Navigating through the workers and cages, John grabbed some snacks and drinks for the boys, and also took advantage of the light and quickly used the cashier's marker to draw a route for the boys to follow. He quickly went back to the car and found Sammy just nodding off. "Here follow the line and eat quietly. Sam's sleeping." He instructed, Tony gratefully took a bag of marshmallows and looked at the map with his flashlight.

After 13 hours from leaving New Mexico and with much cursing along the way, John finally got to Pastor Jim's having gone through an unavoidable traffic stop caused by a car accident on the road. John decided it would be better for him to leave the kids with Pastor Jim while he went ahead and got the supernatural creature that was terrorizing a small town in New England. He though about taking Tony and Dean to help him, but they were still just learning and would be safer here.

That happened a few more times over the years, and when the boys got older sometimes John would send them to pick up the packages themselves while he went on a hunt, and they would meet up later. Being with the Winchesters, Tony came to believe that mail wasn't that important since he never got any, but when Sam started Stanford, the first thing Tony did was write him a letter, to really welcome his brother to his permanent address.

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After grabbing a quick shower and dinner, Tony finally let himself relax in front of the TV, happily finding one of his favourite movies on. That was one thing that hadn't diminished, his love of TV. Everyone knew Tony was a great actor from his obsession of watching movies over the years, making him good at playing roles in the hunts, and now working undercover as a police officer. His Captain had quickly found Tony to be the go-to guy for any work that required a cop to go undercover. While most of his employees were apt to give themselves away or act too much like a cop, Tony didn't.

Tony just grinned ruefully before looking at his University diploma framed on the wall. Declaring his name as Anthony David DiNozzo, however Tony had another picture that he kept hidden away from the prying eyes of visitors. The picture Dean had drawn for him just a couple of weeks after joining the Winchesters, where his name was scrawled across the top in red crayon. Anthony Michael Winchester. Unfortunately Tony kept most of his mementos of his family stored away in secret, as much as he hated to. All the birthday cards they had scribbled to him, all family photos and such.

Yet another thing that Tony found different from his previous life, their celebration of holidays. In Long Island, his parents used to invite his classmates even if he didn't know them, or his father's business partners and their kids for his birthday parties. Tony usually spent his own party hidden in the corner, not something he was apt to do. And Christmas time, his parents always bought him lots of presents usually to make up for the fact that they went away on vacation and left him with the nanny to open them.

With the Winchesters though, the holidays weren't always celebrated in a big way but they made them special or part of the day special, to let each other know.

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1988

"Santa!" 5 year-old Sam Winchester cried as he saw the red-suited man in the crowded mall. Tony rolled his eyes and tried to drag his younger brother away, to no avail though as Sam broke free and hurried over to the line full of other grinning children. Tony just sighed and walked over.

"Sam we have to go, we can't see Santa today." Tony said.

"But it's Santa. I need to tell him what I want for Christmas since I haven't written a letter." Sam pleaded, and once again Tony was a victim to his soulful, begging eyes.

"Fine," Tony relented. He figured he could get the family's present in an hour or so, that being the main reason John had dropped Tony and Sam off at the Mall. Dean decided to stay at the motel and make presents for the family. Tony had saved money from shoveling snow in the town's rich neighborhood and wanted to get special gifts for his brothers and dad.

After a horrendous 40 minutes that Tony spent murmuring 'Christo' to make sure no one around was possessed, since he was sure one of those screaming kids or raging parents just had to be, they finally got the front of the line and Tony knew it was worth it when he saw the wide grin Sam gave as he rattled off a list to 'Santa.'

"OK, ready Sammy?" Tony asked.

"Uh huh, Santa said he would do his best to get my presents but it may take a while." Sam replied a little disappointed.

"Why what did you want?"

"A bike and a dog." Sam said quietly, reaching for Tony's hand.

Tony sighed before pulling Sam into the toy shop, hoping to distract him. While the youngest Winchester looked at the GI Joe dolls, Tony bought a couple of presents and stuffed them in his backpack out of Sam's eyes.

"Let's go see what Dean's up to." Tony smiled.

A few days later, Tony and Dean woke up to someone jumping on their bed. Not that they were surprised, since it was Christmas Day. Tony opened his eyes to see Sam or rather Sam's blue pyjamas he jumped up and down, becoming a blur.

"It's Christmas!" He yelled, making sure his brothers were well aware of this now.

"We know Sammy, go back to sleep." Dean grumbled, pulling a pillow over his head.

"But Santa came, see Dean." Sam said as he threw the pillow on the floor and pointed to a small pile of presents on the other bed.

"Go open 'em boys." John smiled from the tiny kitchenette. Sam didn't need telling twice and jumped onto the bed, grabbing one at random.

"S-A-M!" He held it up triumphantly, "this one's mine."

"Open it then," Tony ordered as he clambered onto the bed too. Sam did as his was told and dissolved into giggles when he saw it.

"Look T, Santa got me my doggy!" Sam shoved the stuffed toy in Tony's face.

"Easier to look after, that one." John said sending a grin to Tony who had given him the heads up.

"What did I get?" Dean asked, grabbing one with his name on. Having presents was a rare thing for him, he didn't ask for them and simply made do with what little he had. "A toy Impala?" He asked, holding up the small car.

"Till you get the real one, son." John explained, matching Dean's wide smile.

"And I got a...no way! A new skateboard." Tony cried happily.

"I guess Santa found a sale, and somehow knew you'd practically worn your old one out." John said.

The rest of the day was spent opening the few gifts and admiring them, then Tony found some old signs in the back of the motel and the boys used them for sledding on a huge hill, on the outside of town. They didn't have much of a Christmas dinner but they enjoyed it nonetheless.

Not a traditional Christmas for some, but it suited them. Because most importantly they were together, as a family.

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Early the next morning, Tony DiNozzo awoke to a text message from his younger brother and best friend, saying Dean would be arriving soon. Tony couldn't help but smile as he read it, it had been a couple of months since they had seen each other. Even though he had left the family and gone to college five years ago, it was still weird not to spend every day with them. His family wasn't the most conventional, in fact he had spent pretty much every waking moment with at least one member of his family since he was 6 years old, when he had joined the Winchesters.

And they hadn't had a clear place to call home, so when he first went to University Tony found it difficult at first staying in his college dorm, in the one place. Not in some cheap motel or spending all day in a car or attending a different school after a month. It took a bit of adjustment but Tony was good at that, and eventually he had found a place at OSU, and managed to fit in.

But he never forgot his family.

His father, John. Demanding, fierce, passionate. John Winchester was a man who was admired and hated by hunters alike, he was infamous in their small circle, on his quest for revenge.

Dean, John's eldest biological son. Snarky, flirty, savior. There was varied opinions of Dean as well, but everyone agreed he was good at what he did and was born to hunt. All Tony saw him as was his best friend.

And the youngest Winchester boy, Sam. Smart, quiet, sweet. Sam was everyone's favourite, doted on by anyone who met the Winchesters, but Tony knew how bitchy he could get. He would always be little Sammy.

His family had been shocked when he had announced he was going to the Police Academy and joining the right side of Law Enforcement. But as Tony saw it, he had been saving people and hunting monsters for most of his life, this was just the human side of it now. And he had to admit, he had breezed through the Academy and found police work very similar to hunting. He could also keep an eye on what the cops knew about the Winchester family since they were very popular with the police. And he kept tabs on any cases that sounded supernatural that he could alert his family to, knowing the police would get a dead end on them.

Tony suspected that was the case now, for a couple of years now, John had let Dean go out on solo jobs. But Dean still called Tony and asked for his help or advice on hunts, Tony suspected their father knew but didn't say. Dean so desperately wanted John to have faith in him and trust him with this. Tony usually did his best to just keep the peace and help his family any way he could.

Just like he had done growing up and just like he always would.


	14. Chapter 14 Always A Winchester

Well, here it finally is. I know, I know, you're probably wondering if I was ever gonna update? But yes, I finally got some time to do so, and here is the final chapter to the story.

I had to amend the time lines a little, but basically this is the first episode of Supernatural, and around Season 3 episode 6 'The Voyeur's Web' of NCIS.

Hope you enjoy this chapter, and I have thought about a sequel which follows the shows, though I'll be honest it may be a while before that happens. Still I do want to thank you all so very much, for all your lovely and encouraging reviews, and for following the story. They are very helpful and great to read, I cannot thank you enough.

Chapter 14- Always A Winchester

17th September 2005- Washington, DC, USA/ Jericho, California, USA

The past few months had been a bit...difficult for Tony. But that wasn't really new, from hunting the supernatural and living on the road, to living alone and catching human criminals, Tony had always had a tumultuous life. But this was different. Miraculously growing up as they did, Tony and his brothers were still alive and kicking.

NCIS Special Agent Caitlin 'Kate' Todd on the other hand, had lost her life in May. Before Tony could even really process the death of his colleague and friend, Mossad Agent Ziva David had been thrust upon the NCIS team.

That had been four months ago, so between teaching Ziva about NCIS procedures and American customs, trying to deal with Kate's death and alternating visits between his feuding brothers, Tony had been getting weary.

But now after a weeks vacation, Tony sat at his desk, doing what he did best- plotting. After Kate had died the team had a hard time finding their groove again, especially with the added Ziva. They were all still a little wary of her though McGee was happy there was another newbie now. So Tony was getting back to his favourite activity, annoying his co-workers. That was normal, wasn't it?

Thankfully Ziva was so engrossed in her computer and typing her report she hadn't noticed Tony aiming a rubber band at her. Surely he could get it tangled in her long mane of hair. As he pulled the band back though his phone began ringing. Playing the unmistakable ringtone of 'Ramblin Man' by The Allman Brothers Band. Tony had quickly made that Dean's ringtone, which of course his brother had protested asking for Metallica or Zeppelin instead, but Tony was insistent this was a better song for him.

Tony quickly dropped the rubber band and with a glance at Gibbs, who knew what that ringtone meant, grabbed his phone and took off to a quiet corner before answering it.

"D?"

"Hey man," Dean replied on the other end.

"What's up? Please tell me you're just calling to shoot the breeze," Tony begged, knowing that probably wasn't the case, while that did happen at times, more often than not Dean or John would call asking for help getting out of trouble or something similar.

"Wish I could big Bro, but no." Dean paused before dropping the bomb on Tony. "Dad's gone missing."

"How missing is he?" Tony asked. "Like he's lost himself on a weekend trip in the woods or he's in the middle of a hunt and not returning your calls?"

"The second one," Dean sighed heavily.

"Great, OK where was he last, I'll start making calls to the hospital. And do we have any idea what he was following?"

"He was in Jericho, California, he told me he was headed there cause he found info on the demon that got Mom, but then he found a hunt when he was down there. Dunno what it was though."

"OK, I'll look into it. Keep me posted on your end."

"One more thing," Dean said before Tony could hang up. "This case...it's in California, and you're all the way in DC, and this is serious so..."

"So...what Dean?"

"So I was thinking of asking Sammy to come along with me?" Dean said quickly.

Tony let out a bark of laughter. "Are you serious, you've barely spoken to Sam since he went to college, after that huge bust up between you two and Dad, I'm the only one who's kept in regular contact with him."

"Hey he's the one who doesn't pick up." Dean protested.

Tony was silent to give him a few moments. "Do you want me to give Sammy a heads up you're coming?"

"Nah, it'll be more fun this way plus he won't be able to run away." Dean grinned, Tony shared a grin with him and decided to keep it quiet until Dean reached Sam.

"Fine, catch you later Dean." Tony said hanging up, after Dean said his goodbye. As he returned to his desk, he ignored McGee and Ziva eyeing him and sat down. His mind was occupied, thinking about his ringtone for Dean, he had never actually thought about the lyrics but suddenly hoped they wouldn't find their Dad like that.

"Dammit Dad," he whispered as he picked up his phone again. "Boss, I'm going out for lunch, back in an hour." He said, moving quickly out the bullpen so much that he didn't even give Gibbs a chance to respond.

SNSNSNSNSN

After a couple dozen phone calls to various hospitals in California, Tony still had nothing to give his brothers. There was no reports of a John Winchester or John Doe, not even a description of John fit any patients. As he was returning to NCIS he quickly remembered saying he was going for lunch, so he backpedalled down the street and grabbed a few sandwiches for everyone at the local deli and a big cup of coffee for Gibbs.

Everyone was so grateful for the food, they didn't ask him any questions about his sudden need to get out. But they all suspected it had to do with the mountain of paperwork they were all battling through. The day dragged on but eventually the clock hit five and once again, Tony was the first one out the door, rushing to get home so he could make a few more calls, with it still being the afternoon on the West Coast. Before he could though, Gibbs had caught up with him in the car park.

"DiNozzo, what's going on?" Gibbs asked quietly as they stood by Tony's car.

"John's gone missing," Tony said simply.

"Demons?" Gibbs asked, and once again Tony was a little startled at how Gibbs could ask him that so easily.

"Don't know, he was tracking one but then he found something else, Dean said. Not sure what's going on though. No luck on hospitals, not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Dean and Sam are going to check it out though, they'll keep me posted."

"Dean and Sam? I thought they still had a Cold War going on?"

"So does Sam, let's hope it ends peacefully." Tony grinned.

"Alright well keep me updated on the case."

Tony nodded as Gibbs walked to his own car. "Will do, Boss."

SNSNSNSNSN

The next day, Tony was awoken early by his cellphone, this time with another ringtone. 'Surfin' USA' by The Beach Boys, Tony grinned as he picked it up. Another customized ringtone, this time in honor of his youngest brother's current home state, California.

"Morning Sammy," Tony smiled, knowing what was about to happen.

"Dude, how the hell could you not warn me?" Sam yelled down the phone. Tony guessed he was outside somewhere, or at least away from Dean, or he wouldn't be shouting so loudly.

"I know you like surprises."

"This isn't funny Tony!"

"I'm not laughing." Tony said, as he fought to keep the grin off his face.

"You may be across the country, but I'm still your brother. I know when you're laughing on the inside." Sam growled. "So what gives?"

"Look Dean needed help, and I can't get away from work-"

"But it's OK for me to just suddenly leave school. Dammit T, I've got an interview for Law school on Monday, I don't need this right now."

"Well I'm sure Dad is very sorry to go missing at such an important time, he didn't know you had an- wait, a what? How come I didn't know about this interview?"

"I-uh- I was- I just didn't want to say until after, who knows if I will actually get accepted." Sam faltered.

"Of course you will Sammy, that's great news. I am really proud of you little brother. And trust me, I know Dean will get you back there in time. Sam, please stick with him. This is Dad. Despite what happened between you three, I know you're scared for him. You wouldn't want anything to happen to him."

"Of course I wouldn't. He is my father." Sam admitted.

"So please just help Dean out, for me?" Tony asked, knowing when he had his little brother.

"Alright, but only till Monday."

"Thanks Sammy,"

"Not you as well, I already told Dean. It's Sam. Not Sammy. I'm not 12 years old anymore."

"You know you'll always be the baby of us all, Sammy." Tony said.

"Loser." Sam said.

"Prick." Tony returned, hanging up. Just another lovingly moment with his brother, what a great start to the morning. After a few minutes, Tony got another phone call, this one informing him of a case the team needed to work. Tony groaned internally, hoping he could use his weekend to help his brothers but that clearly wasn't going to happen. He thought about maybe calling in sick, Gibbs would- should understand, but then thought better of it, and quickly got ready.

The next few hours was a blur, it was one of their easier cases, a Marine suspected of suicide. After going through his life and talking with his family, all they were waiting on was Ducky's Autopsy findings and Abby's Lab results, but it looked pretty clear cut. So Tony was crossing his fingers that he would get home soon and still have his Sunday free.

But he was pulled out his wishing when his phone rang again indicating Sam was after him. "Hey Sam, you find anything?" Tony asked quietly, heading to a more secluded corner.

"Yep, we got us a Woman In White." Sam said simply.

"You're kidding." Tony cried, before he could stop himself. Despite what they had seen, some things were still a bit rare and unusual for the Winchesters, this was one of them. Many legends had been heard about theses specific ghosts, but the boys hadn't had to stop many of them before. "Should be simple enough to get rid of."

"Yeah except..." Sam said, pausing.

"Except what?" Tony said, almost dreading hearing it.

"Dean's been arrested."

"What!" Tony groaned. "Why?"

"Credit card fraud."

"Still? When is he gonna learn?"

"Clearly not any time soon. What should I do?"

"OK, are there some local kids or troublemakers in town?"

"Yeah, probably. Always is in a small town."

"Alright, find a street name and call in a disturbance from there. Dean should be able to escape that way, you just go wait for him at the back of the police station." Tony rubbed his temple in frustration. "I'll check on my end and see if Dean was processed."

"Alright, thanks T. I'll check back in a few hours."

SNSNSNSNSN

It wasn't actually till late in the night, the next day when Dean called Tony and broke the news to him. Tony had been investigating a case of a web-murder. It involved a long day of Star Wars figures, internet porn and military wives. Tony also learnt his current girlfriend was married, a little fact she had neglected to tell him even though he had explicitly asked, and he had discovered McGee was teaching Ziva all about American dating using examples from Tony's love life.

However Tony's problems all went out of his mind when he spoke to Dean.

"So Dad's chasing Yellow Eyes on his own?" Tony asked taking a swig of beer.

"Yep, and T, there's something else." Dean said, before sighing heavily.

"Sam's girlfriend-"

"Jess, yeah, she's a nice girl." Tony said, remembering the few times he had met her. After he and Dean had romanced many girls in their teen years, he was happy to see Sam smitten and settled down with this girl. She had been beautiful and friendly, a great fit for Sam.

"Tony, she's dead." Dean stated.

"What?" Tony asked in a barely a whisper, not sure if Dean even heard.

"Tony, she died in the exact same way as...our Mom. In a fire, on the ceiling. I had just dropped Sam off at their place, I barely got him out of there before the place burned down. He actually saw it happen."

"Damn. Where's Sam now? Is he OK? Right, I'm coming out there-" Tony said, already standing up and going to pack a bag.

"No, Tony stop!" Dean ordered, much like John. "I've got Sam, he's sleeping right now. He- he wants to help me look for Dad, then get the demon. Tony, it was the Yellow-Eyed Demon, again. And Sam wants to get him now."

"Revenge, just like Dad. Damn, this won't be easy." Tony said, sitting on his bed.

"Yeah, exactly. Look we need you to stay there, I know you want to be here for Sammy but I've got him. The best thing you can do is stay there and look out for us on your side of the law."

"I know. Oh by the way, I managed to keep you out of the Jericho police system."

"Thanks big brother." Dean said, smiling for the first time that day.

"Promise you'll look after Sammy? I mean, this is the most time you've spent with him in four years."

"Still our baby brother, always will be."

"Yeah, same goes to you D. Make sure Sam calls me when he wakes up."

"I will. Why do I sense a lot of chick flick moments are gonna be happening?"

"Shut up! Just keep me updated with what you find."

"You too Tony. Dad might contact you as well, right now we have a lead that he's in some back end woods out in Colorado, we're gonna follow him. Let you know what we find."

"Thanks Dean. Good luck little brother."

"Good night T." Both boys hung up with a lot weighing on their minds.

Hours later, Tony was still wide awake, lying in his bed simply thinking about his family. Tony always knew. He had said it to himself often enough. And though he had helped out on some cases with them before, he knew it now more than ever. Their dad had gone AWOL. He was a lone ranger. John Winchester had never played well with others, but now it seemed his sons were included on that list rather than people he could trust.

Tony knew his brothers would be calling him more often, needing his help or assistance or just someone to listen to, despite his motor mouth Tony was also a great listener, especially for his brothers. Tony was and always would be a Winchester.


End file.
